Abrams: Star Wars AND Star Trek

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I liked TNG year one better than TNG year two. In the first year they were being creative, inventive and trying things, figuring out what the show was going to be. The second year was just one pointless thud! after another, leavened by an entertaining scene here and there and one or two memorable episodes - and everyone blaming it on the writers' strike.

AKA the Rise And Fall Of Maurice Hurley.

 

[DalekJim]

I liked TNG year one better than TNG year two. In the first year they were being creative, inventive and trying things, figuring out what the show was going to be. The second year was just one pointless thud! after another, leavened by an entertaining scene here and there and one or two memorable episodes - and everyone blaming it on the writers' strike.

AKA the Rise And Fall Of Maurice Hurley.

TNG S2 had The Measure of a Man and Q Who, 2 of the finest episodes the show produced. S1 had a few good episodes but nothing of that standard.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

"Measure Of A Man" is the only really great season two episode.

"Q Who" is half an episode. Hurley has an idea and a premise there which turns out to be brilliant for TNG - when a better writer, Michael Piller, is eventually able to make use of it a year later. Hurley's episode doesn't really have a third act. The characters meander through a series of unfocused scenes aboard the Enterprise that rely (as usual) upon the talents of Goldberg and Stewart and de Lancie to salvage mediocre writing, then we go sight-seeing to Meet The Borg. Then the episode stops.

Meh. If that's good enough for you, fine, but it's not "great" much less "the greatest" anything.

 

[DalekJim]

Meh. If that's good enough for you, fine, but it's not "great" much less "the greatest" anything.

The Enterprise facing a new unknown threat in an alien region is more my cuppa tea than Eric Bana growling and blowing up planets willy nilly for no real reason.

My fave TNG S1 eps are 11001001 and Conspiracy. Neither are true essentials though. It wasn't until S3 that TNG finally surpassed TOS in it's storytelling quality. Then DS9 came along and trumped both shows.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The Enterprise facing a new unknown threat in an alien region...

Nice TV Guide blurb does not make good story. So sorry.

What always disappointed me a little about TNG, over time, was that by the time the show really started to gel - season three - the inventiveness and freshness of the characters and premise was almost gone. They did spend a good part of season four exploring and somewhat redefining most of the regular characters, but the tremendous opportunities involved in introducing the audience to the likes of Picard, Data, Worf et al, not to mention inventing what the new era in which their adventures took place, had been somewhat squandered.

Everything you need to know to love the original Star Trek is in place by the end of its first year - we got to watch the show hit its zenith almost as quickly as we were discovering its existance - and only one really brilliant strokes , "Amok Time," was added after year one.

There are only three or four great TOS episodes after "The City On The Edge Of Forever," and none as good as that one.

 

[DalekJim]

The Enterprise facing a new unknown threat in an alien region...

Nice TV Guide blurb does not make good story. So sorry.

It's kinda the premise of the whole show if you listen to that monologue thing during the title sequence.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The Enterprise facing a new unknown threat in an alien region...

Nice TV Guide blurb does not make good story. So sorry.

It's kinda the premise of the whole show if you listen to that monologue thing during the title sequence.

What part of "story" don't you understand?

 

[Greg Cox]

I don't think age should be an excuse for dismissing anybody's views.

Oh, I don't think we're dismissing anybody's views. We're just acknowledging that people of different generations are, inevitably, going to have different takes on things--including the inevitability of reboots, or when exactly the glory days of STAR TREK were.

I write TOS books. You prefer DS9 books. Given our respective ages, that's perfectly natural--for both of us.

Where people get into trouble is when they start insisting that their generation of Trek is the "real" Trek--and everything else falls short.

Like I've joked before, fifteen years from now, cranky fans will be pining for the Abrams version--and arguing strenuously that the new, new STAR TREK violates everything that has gone before!

 

[DalekJim]

Where people get into trouble is when they start insisting that their generation of Trek is the "real" Trek--and everything else falls short.

I like all the Star Trek shows (Including TAS!), even if Voyager is highly mediocre. It's really only the movie series I take huge issue with. The Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan are excellent but I can take or leave pretty much all the rest.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Like I've joked before, fifteen years from now, cranky fans will be pining for the Abrams version--and arguing strenuously that the new, new STAR TREK violates everything that has gone before!

Absolutely.

You know that fans will miss Chris Pine and probably particularly Quinto when other actors take those parts over.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Nobody did

I did.

 

[BillJ]

Nobody did

I did.

Me too! Season one was my favorite of TNG.

 

[Balrog]

I like many of the episodes from TNG S1. In many ways it was much like TOS.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Nobody did

I did.

Me too! Season one was my favorite of TNG.

You mean we agree on something? Shit.

 

[BillJ]

I did.

Me too! Season one was my favorite of TNG.

You mean we agree on something? Shit.

 

[Greg Cox]

As I recall, "Measure of a Man" was the first episode that really blew me away.

 

[CorporalClegg]

To be fair, "Dirty Laundry" is my #2 all-time favorite song, but that's neither here nor there.

As I recall, "Measure of a Man" was the first episode that really blew me away.

Same. But it and "Q Who?" are really the only standouts of the season IMO.

While there was nothing in the first season that was equally as good, there were several more episodes I'd rate as "better than average" than season two. If that makes sense.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Besides The Measure of a Man and Q Who, The Emissary was a definite TNG season two stand out. I also found Unnatural Selection, Loud As a Whisper, and Peak Performance to stand out.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

"The Big Goodbye" and "Conspiracy" were two of my favorites from the first year. Roddenberry liked Torme, which made him kind of a marked man in certain quarters.

 

[R. Star]

It makes perfect sense for Abrams to move on to Star Wars. Historical fact, Star Wars has always brought in more money than Trek. Sure he's gonna say all the right things about how he can remain dedicated to both. That's smart and he's not burning a bridge that he doesn't have to. But if it comes where he has to choose, the money is with Star Wars. Plain and simple.

As for what it means to the Star Trek franchise? Well, why should Abrams care about that. He flat out said he wasn't a Star Trek fan before he made ST09, so if the renewed interest his movies generated crashes and burns, what does he care? He's got a great gig either way.