Will SFA Season 2 Actually Air?

[Campe]

Well sonethimg needs to change or the franchise will probably move into history or at the very least be over for the current generation of fans.

I know we’ve talked about this before and I’m going to bring it up again. If there is a barrier to entry, I think it’s more about the number of Trek stories out there. We are closing on a thousand episodes. Prodigy is a great jumping on point. TNG too. I don’t think Disco does a bad job of it, but wouldn’t be my first choice. But every other series has to have some recognition of previous series, even Enterprise, really. But, TOS, by far, is the best as a jumping on point. But for newer audiences, it can be slow, old and then have the other 900+ episodes behind it. That’s a lot of baggage.

But if it goes away for a long time or even forever, that’s fine by me. A rewatch at this point would take several years.

 

[TRON JA307020]

I know we’ve talked about this before and I’m going to bring it up again. If there is a barrier to entry, I think it’s more about the number of Trek stories out there. We are closing on a thousand episodes. Prodigy is a great jumping on point. TNG too. I don’t think Disco does a bad job of it, but wouldn’t be my first choice. But every other series has to have some recognition of previous series, even Enterprise, really. But, TOS, by far, is the best as a jumping on point. But for newer audiences, it can be slow, old and then have the other 900+ episodes behind it. That’s a lot of baggage.

But if it goes away for a long time or even forever, that’s fine by me. A rewatch at this point would take several years.

Yeah. 900 episodes is a huge hill to climb. It can be done but newbies would need to watch two episodes a day to get through it sll in about 14 months. Thats a heck of a lot of trek. Im planning on rewatching DS9 and STV soon. I've only seen those series once each.

 

[fireproof78]

I think so. Well im enjoying the heck out of Lanterns right now at least. I'm sure it won't last though. Lol

What does last?

Being a fan for fifty years, this is all gravy at this point. I never expected Trek to be an ongoing concern in my fifties. So, I'll watch and let the future take care of itself.

Exactly. The wish for Star Trek in perpetuity ignores reality.

 

[BillJ]

The wish for Star Trek in perpetuity ignores reality.

I really hate anytime a show is cancelled. Same time, I’m simply realistic about this stuff.

Probably took me longer than it should have to get to this point.

 

[Michael]

I know we’ve talked about this before and I’m going to bring it up again. If there is a barrier to entry, I think it’s more about the number of Trek stories out there. We are closing on a thousand episodes. Prodigy is a great jumping on point. TNG too. I don’t think Disco does a bad job of it, but wouldn’t be my first choice. But every other series has to have some recognition of previous series, even Enterprise, really. But, TOS, by far, is the best as a jumping on point. But for newer audiences, it can be slow, old and then have the other 900+ episodes behind it. That’s a lot of baggage.

But if it goes away for a long time or even forever, that’s fine by me. A rewatch at this point would take several years.

Regarding good “jumping on points” for viewers new to the franchise, I think there’s a good argument to be made that Starfleet Academy actually presents a rather good starting point. Outside of some vague references to the Burn, the vast majority of the characters, the setting and the storylines feel totally fresh and untangled from previous canon baggage. Sure, you might enjoy it a little more if you’ve seen Voyager and Discovery or know what a Betazoid is, but there’s almost nothing essential in the show that heavily relies on 900 episodes worth of background info.

Obviously that didn‘t pan out for the vast majority of viewers, but as presented I certainly feel like SFA makes a conscious attempt to be as easily accessible to new viewers as possible and makes the whole universe feel as fresh and new as it once did when the original show started, The Next Generation premiered and Prodigy came around.

 

[Firebird]

Viewership couldn't have been high. I went to a showing of TWOK last weekend. Most of the audience was in their late 60s to mid 70s. I was one of the fewer people younger but there were no kids, teens or twenty somethings in that audience. My niece or nephew had no interest in going. They know what Star Trek is but think its boring. Theyre teenagers. I was watching Trek in my single digits. It held my attention. But today's younger audience finds it slow and boring. They hear the name Star Trek and they run for the hills. Maybe its all the superhero films they grew up with or the tik tok videos they watch but to young people Star Trek just isn't exciting. I wish it weren't true but its becoming clear its a franchise without a future audience.

You don't know the difference between anecdotal and empirical evidence, do you?

 

[TRON JA307020]

You don't know the difference between anecdotal and empirical evidence, do you?

I most certainly do know the difference.

 

[The Wormhole]

I went to a showing of TWOK last weekend. Most of the audience was in their late 60s to mid 70s. I was one of the fewer people younger but there were no kids, teens or twenty somethings in that audience.

It's a bit of a leap to presume that young people not wanting to go to the the theatre to see a movie from 1982 is reflective of the franchise's current popularity. Old movies being screened at the theatre is mostly a nostalgia thing, the audience there is going to be either people who saw it when it was first released wanting to relive their youth or people who grew up watching the movie on home media wanting the chance to see it on the big screen. I guarantee you're most likely going to see a primarily older audience attending the 50th anniversary screenings of Star Wars next year as well.

 

[Campe]

I guarantee you're most likely going to see a primarily older audience attending the 50th anniversary screenings of Star Wars next year as well.

I’m taking my 7 year old. Excited to share it with him! But fully prepared he might be bored to tears.

 

[Kraig]

It's a bit of a leap to presume that young people not wanting to go to the the theatre to see a movie from 1982 is reflective of the franchise's current popularity. Old movies being screened at the theatre is mostly a nostalgia thing, the audience there is going to be either people who saw it when it was first released wanting to relive their youth or people who grew up watching the movie on home media wanting the chance to see it on the big screen. I guarantee you're most likely going to see a primarily older audience attending the 50th anniversary screenings of Star Wars next year as well.

Only the original theatrical version of Star Wars, not the Lucas revised one.

 

[Campe]

Only the original theatrical version of Star Wars, not the Lucas revised one.

Are they releasing both in theaters? I thought it was just the 1977 cut.

 

[Firebird]

I most certainly do know the difference.

You literally presented anecdotal evidence as a way to empirically prove your point.

 

[TRON JA307020]

You literally presented anecdotal evidence as a way to empirically prove your point.

Uh no. It was just more data that i collected. Its anecdotal to you but I saw it so its not anecdotal to me . Low viewership of modern trek is the best information we have of modern treks failure . That young people are not watching or in very low numbers. My trip to the theater confirmed it. But like any poll I can infer that younger people weren't flocking to see the old tos movies. Unless you have information to the contrary.

 

[Firebird]

Uh no. It was just more data that i collected. Its anecdotal to you but I saw it so its not anecdotal to me .

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anecdotal%20evidence

 

[TRON JA307020]

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anecdotal%20evidence

I kkow what anecdotal means. If trek is attracting new young fans that are sustaining it please show me current viewing numbers. Nielsens. Renewals. New filiming. Anything. Show me something that tells me trek is as popular today as it was in the 80s and 90s. Something to show me its not dying.

 

[Campe]

No one is denying that Star Trek isn’t in the shape it was 30 years ago. But anecdotal evidence is simply that: an anecdote of a person’s observations. Your observation is that almost everyone in the audience was 50+. That’s anecdotal evidence.

Did you survey everyone in that audience? What are the results of that survey? Along with breakdowns of specific questions. You would have created a sample of the audience along with real data points. That would be empirical evidence.

That’s all that’s being said here.

 

[TRON JA307020]

No one is denying that Star Trek isn’t in the shape it was 30 years ago. But anecdotal evidence is simply that: an anecdote of a person’s observations. Your observation is that almost everyone in the audience was 50+. That’s anecdotal evidence.

Did you survey everyone in that audience? What are the results of that survey? Along with breakdowns of specific questions. You would have created a sample of the audience along with real data points. That would be empirical evidence.

That’s all that’s being said here.

No. Well over 60.

 

[drt]

Regarding good “jumping on points” for viewers new to the franchise, I think there’s a good argument to be made that Starfleet Academy actually presents a rather good starting point. Outside of some vague references to the Burn, the vast majority of the characters, the setting and the storylines feel totally fresh and untangled from previous canon baggage. Sure, you might enjoy it a little more if you’ve seen Voyager and Discovery or know what a Betazoid is, but there’s almost nothing essential in the show that heavily relies on 900 episodes worth of background info.

Obviously that didn‘t pan out for the vast majority of viewers, but as presented I certainly feel like SFA makes a conscious attempt to be as easily accessible to new viewers as possible and makes the whole universe feel as fresh and new as it once did when the original show started, The Next Generation premiered and Prodigy came around.

While i agree that SGA is actually a reasonable starting point, the problem is that the casual audience assumes you need to watch those 900 episodes to know what is happening.

 

[fireproof78]

Show me something that tells me trek is as popular today as it was in the 80s and 90s.

It's not.

And that's ok.

No one is denying that Star Trek isn’t in the shape it was 30 years ago. But anecdotal evidence is simply that: an anecdote of a person’s observations. Your observation is that almost everyone in the audience was 50+. That’s anecdotal evidence.

Did you survey everyone in that audience? What are the results of that survey? Along with breakdowns of specific questions. You would have created a sample of the audience along with real data points. That would be empirical evidence.

That’s all that’s being said here.

Indeed, yes. One experience doesn't define anything. It's all based in assumption.

And if Trek is dying then so it goes. You don't get things that last forever.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Important update: Yes, SFA season 2 is still airing in 2027.