At least both seasons of WotW were variations on the same theme; they were both shows about fighting alien invaders, just with very different approaches. The plots of the two seasons of Picard don't even have that much in common.
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At least both seasons of WotW were variations on the same theme; they were both shows about fighting alien invaders, just with very different approaches. The plots of the two seasons of Picard don't even have that much in common.
Perhaps so, but the litverse was basically erased from existence (in story) in favor of Picard, a show I actively dislike, while I loved the relaunches. So Picard had a direct bearing on the litverse. And because of Picard we will never see any further novels in the litverse storyline. So I'm not sure I'd call it an imbalanced comparison for that reason. I would have rather seen future novel stories in the relaunch storylines that what I just finished watching on Picard.
Now, I know, that's just my own opinion. People are certainly free to disagree of course (and they will
). And my personal preferences aren't worth anything really except to myself. I just wish if we had to see the end of the relaunches that the show was better than it was. Yeah, definitely. Discovery at least seems to feel more linked from season to season. I don't recall any references to season 1 of Picard in season 2 at all in fact (except as you noted the shared characters).
Season 2 will be the very first Star Trek production that I will NOT buy on hardcopy. I never thought that would happen, that I'd dislike something from Star Trek so much that I never actually had any desire to watch it again. I stopped watching it a little over halfway through due to some unrelated issues and when I started watching Star Trek again I almost didn't finish the season. But, I thought I should at least see it through. I hate leaving things unfinished. But it was almost a chore watching it. I'd actually check the time I had left at points thinking 'when is this episode going to be over?'
I'm going to check out some of the Picard threads to see what the general consensus is on season 2. I honestly have no idea how other fans viewed it. I very well could have been a minority in my opinion. Maybe people loved it, LOL.
SNW is much better (at least through the first 3 episodes I've watched thus far). Not thrilled with all the original series era characters popping up. I mean, hell, why don't they just bring James Kirk, Scotty, Sulu and Chekov on board already. Well, I digress, but otherwise, it's pretty good and I like the more episodic approach to that one.
There were a few token acknowledgments of season 1 events in the season premiere -- the synth ban being lifted, Jurati being cleared of murder charges. But only to get them out of the way before moving on with an unrelated story.
Two of those characters do show up before the season ends.
Well, one and a half.
Was everyone else devastated when Frank Mancuso Jr. destroyed what was a pretty good syndicated show? It's not all horrible after a recent rewatch, but the changes certainly didn't help the ratings it seems.
Honestly, when I rewatched season 1 some years back, I realized it was actually much worse than I remembered. It was largely written by non-union writers during the '88 WGA strike, and a lot of its writing is downright terrible. It also had incredibly cheap, cheesy production values, a startling contrast to its syndication partner Star Trek: The Next Generation, which must've gotten all the money. The VFX were crude, and the audio was often on the level of a fan film shot in someone's basement.
But what made season 1 enjoyable was the chemistry among the main cast. Because of them, I remembered the season fondly despite its often terrible writing. It was certainly a crippling blow to the show when Mancuso killed off half the cast -- and stripped Harrison Blackwood of all his personality quirks, leaving him totally bland and generic.
The worst part of the cast change, though, was that it was clearly motivated by prejudice. Mancuso fired both actors of color and gave season 2 an all-white cast. And his excuses for firing Richard Chavez and Philip Akin didn't pass the smell test. He said he was unaware that Chavez's Ironhorse was the most popular character, an implausible thing for a new showrunner not to know. And he claimed he dropped Norton Drake because the team would be on the run in season 2 and a guy in a wheelchair couldn't keep up, but that was a blatant lie, because he moved the cast into a new permanent base in the second episode, one where Norton could've managed just as well as before.
The changes in format were unpleasant too. There was some logic to rejecting season 1's nonsensical "the invasion was forgotten" premise and instead showing the world still damaged from the massive war 36 years before. But the change was made without any in-story explanation, and it was never really stated that it was the aftermath of the invasion. The world just suddenly, inexplicably became incredibly bleak, sunless, and post-apocalyptic, and it made the show almost unwatchable.
The writing did improve somewhat midseason when Jim Trombetta came aboard as story editor. There were one or two halfway decent episodes, like the one where the team strove to give Debi a happy birthday in the midst of the hellish world. But the series finale was idiotic, tacking on a nonsensical happy ending that contradicted everything back to the original movie.
I remember years ago finding the novelization of the first episode at a half price bookstore. I believe it was written by J.M. Dilliard. I had never seen or heard of the show up to that point. So at first I thought it was simply some sequel novel to the film. I remember really enjoying that book. Then of course I then found out about the tv show. I was able to see the first episode. Boy, meh is an understatement of how I felt about the show.
Dillard's novelization did a lot to paper over the pilot's approach of claiming that humanity had mostly forgotten the invasion. Season 1 went with the idea that aliens had a sort of amnesia-inducing effect on humans (tying into the UFO-abduction lore of the time), which combined with humanity's reluctance to face the reality of an alien invasion, so that most people just chose to forget -- which didn't explain how they accounted for the massive worldwide devastation and loss of life that happened in 1953. In the novel, though, people remembered the invasion more clearly, and IIRC their reluctance to accept that a second invasion had begun was more about not wanting to have to face that trauma again than about forgetting it had happened the first time.
Aw, seriously. Jesus Christ
. It's like they can't help themselves.
Aw, seriously. Jesus Christ
To be fair, it's done in a way that works very well, though I hope they don't make a habit of it.
Well I hope so. And I agree. A character here and there is fine. But it gets to be a bit much after a while when they keep doing it.
Otherwise, so far, I actually think it's my favorite show of the current 'regime.' (well except for my frequent production design complaints,
, but I've just learned to go with it at this point--not like there's anything I can really do about it LOL).IDW for October (no covers uploaded yet)
Star Trek Lower Decks #2
Alternate Cover
(W) Ryan North (A/CA) Chris Fenoglio
The exclusive comic tie-in to the hit Paramount+ animated series continues here! While the crew in the lower decks deal with the repercussions of bringing Dracula aboard the Cerritos, the away team grapples with its own unfortunate miscalculation on the planet Qvanti. From the pen of Eisner-winning comics writer Ryan North (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) and illustrations by artist extraordinaire Chris Fenoglio (Star Wars Adventures and Orphan Black)!
In Shops: Oct 12, 2022
Star Trek #1
Alternate Cover B
Alternate Cover C
Alternate Cover D
Alternate Cover E
(W) Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing (A/CA) Ramon Rosanas
It's stardate 2378 and Benjamin Sisko has finally returned from the Bajoran Wormhole-omnipotent-but with every minute, his godhood is failing. Sent by the Prophets on a mission to the deepest parts of space aboard the U.S.S. Theseus, he witnesses the unthinkable-Someone is killing the gods. And only Sisko and his motley crew of Starfleet members from every era of Trek can stop them. From Star Trek: Year Five duo Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (Batman Beyond, Captain America) comes IDW's brand-new, flagship Star Trek ongoing series that goes where no one has gone before!
In Shops: Oct 26, 2022
Star Trek Picard: Stargazer #3
Alternate Cover
W) Mike Johnson, Kirsten Beyer (A/CA) Angel Hernandez
Witness the thrilling finale of the never-before-seen journey set between seasons two and three of the Paramount+ hit series Star Trek: Picard! Caught in a deadly crossfire between the Romulans and Remans, Picard and Seven of Nine must draw on their combined Starfleet and Rangers skills to save not only themselves but an entire planet!
In Shops: Oct 26, 2022
---
And for December,
Star Trek Discovery - Adventures in the 32nd Century TPB
(W) Mike Johnson (A/CA) Angel Hernandez
Explore the far future of Star Trek in these adventures set after the U.S.S. Discovery's jump forward in time at the end of Season Two! First up, Grudge-who is very much a queen and not a cat-works tirelessly to keep her interplanetary courier/working human, Cleveland Booker, safe. Next, witness the heart-wrenching history that brought Adira Tal to Discovery and how they were paired with one of the last remaining Trill symbionts. Then, while on a mysterious mission to a frozen world, Lieutenant Commander Detmer encounters the last person she expects to find: herself! And, in the finale, Saurian Lieutenant Linus has never truly fit in with his Starfleet colleagues, but an encounter with an undiscovered species will put all their fates, and the ship's, in his hands!
In Shops: Dec 14, 2022
Star Trek Lower Decks #2
Alternate Cover
(W) Ryan North (A/CA) Chris Fenoglio
The exclusive comic tie-in to the hit Paramount+ animated series continues here! While the crew in the lower decks deal with the repercussions of bringing Dracula aboard the Cerritos, the away team grapples with its own unfortunate miscalculation on the planet Qvanti. From the pen of Eisner-winning comics writer Ryan North (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) and illustrations by artist extraordinaire Chris Fenoglio (Star Wars Adventures and Orphan Black)!
In Shops: Oct 12, 2022
Star Trek #1
Alternate Cover B
Alternate Cover C
Alternate Cover D
Alternate Cover E
(W) Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing (A/CA) Ramon Rosanas
It's stardate 2378 and Benjamin Sisko has finally returned from the Bajoran Wormhole-omnipotent-but with every minute, his godhood is failing. Sent by the Prophets on a mission to the deepest parts of space aboard the U.S.S. Theseus, he witnesses the unthinkable-Someone is killing the gods. And only Sisko and his motley crew of Starfleet members from every era of Trek can stop them. From Star Trek: Year Five duo Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (Batman Beyond, Captain America) comes IDW's brand-new, flagship Star Trek ongoing series that goes where no one has gone before!
In Shops: Oct 26, 2022
Star Trek Picard: Stargazer #3
Alternate Cover
W) Mike Johnson, Kirsten Beyer (A/CA) Angel Hernandez
Witness the thrilling finale of the never-before-seen journey set between seasons two and three of the Paramount+ hit series Star Trek: Picard! Caught in a deadly crossfire between the Romulans and Remans, Picard and Seven of Nine must draw on their combined Starfleet and Rangers skills to save not only themselves but an entire planet!
In Shops: Oct 26, 2022
---
And for December,
Star Trek Discovery - Adventures in the 32nd Century TPB
(W) Mike Johnson (A/CA) Angel Hernandez
Explore the far future of Star Trek in these adventures set after the U.S.S. Discovery's jump forward in time at the end of Season Two! First up, Grudge-who is very much a queen and not a cat-works tirelessly to keep her interplanetary courier/working human, Cleveland Booker, safe. Next, witness the heart-wrenching history that brought Adira Tal to Discovery and how they were paired with one of the last remaining Trill symbionts. Then, while on a mysterious mission to a frozen world, Lieutenant Commander Detmer encounters the last person she expects to find: herself! And, in the finale, Saurian Lieutenant Linus has never truly fit in with his Starfleet colleagues, but an encounter with an undiscovered species will put all their fates, and the ship's, in his hands!
In Shops: Dec 14, 2022
The concept for that Sisko comic bugs me. Not just the general use of "gods" in the rationalistic Trek universe, where any such entity is just a super-advanced alien, but specifically about Sisko. The Emissary wasn't supposed to be a "god," more a sort of prophet in the correct sense of the word, a messenger from the gods -- or really, more of a messenger to the gods, the intermediary who advocated for mortals and helped the wormhole beings understand them.
And I really hope they aren't making the common mistake of assuming he's "half-Prophet." Sarah Sisko was entirely human; she was just mind-controlled and used as a sex slave to ensure that Ben Sisko was born. (Really, DS9's writers failed to realize what a truly ugly and horrific idea that was.) So Ben himself is just an ordinary human being.
And in that Discovery description:
That blurb writer obviously doesn't understand cats or cat lovers. Being a cat is what makes her a queen. Indeed, that's literally if the case if she's not spayed, because a fertile adult female cat is called a queen (just as a fertile male is a tom).
And I really hope they aren't making the common mistake of assuming he's "half-Prophet." Sarah Sisko was entirely human; she was just mind-controlled and used as a sex slave to ensure that Ben Sisko was born. (Really, DS9's writers failed to realize what a truly ugly and horrific idea that was.) So Ben himself is just an ordinary human being.
And in that Discovery description:
That blurb writer obviously doesn't understand cats or cat lovers. Being a cat is what makes her a queen. Indeed, that's literally if the case if she's not spayed, because a fertile adult female cat is called a queen (just as a fertile male is a tom).
me as well.. especially looking at the writing team - their take on Gary Seven and Isis in Year 5 was trash. Kelly/Lanzing are more interested in having edgy concepts than staying true to the source material
I read the novel as well and remember it being good. I'll have to give it a look again as I still have it on the shelf.
I think the 3 things I enjoyed about the show the most were the tie-ins to the source material, the character interactions and the small amount of exploration they did with alien technology. I'm a huge sucker for good ensemble casts when it comes to TV and their interactions were pretty good. Living in NJ, I got to watch the premiere on WPIX or channel 11 and they did an excellent job of pumping up the premiere of the show by airing it with the original movie and making it clear that it was a continuation. The nostalgia factor totally got me.
It was unusual among TV adaptations of movies in that, at least in theory, it treated the original, unaltered movie as part of its continuity. Most such adaptations change things about the films to set up the series — like the Starman series (which I'm currently reviewing on my Patreon) retconning the events of the film to happen a dozen years earlier so the title character could have a teenage son, or Men in Black: The Series ignoring K’s retirement at the end of the first film. So it’s refreshing in those few cases where you can treat the movie and the sequel series as a continuous whole.
Sure, the series introduces a lot of retcons about the aliens’ abilities and origins, and makes bizarre and implausible assumptions about the aftermath, but hardly any of it contradicts what we were actually shown in the film, just recontextualizes it. We weren’t explicitly told in the film proper (just in the prologue) that the aliens were from Mars; that was just a speculation that was offered in passing but never confirmed. We never saw the film’s aliens possess human bodies, but that didn’t prove they couldn’t. The two aliens we glimpsed were much smaller and flimsier than the ones in the series, but they could’ve been a different species or subspecies, perhaps some kind of helper animal or genetically engineered scout.
Plus the series incorporated actual footage from the movie in its titles and flashbacks, brought back Ann Robinson as her original character, recreated the war machines fairly faithfully, and so on. I appreciated that regard for the original work, even if the series’ idea of what happened afterward was pretty lame.
Heck, they even incorporated the 1938 Orson Welles WotW broadcast into their continuity, by saying that there was an attack by an advance alien scouting party in Grover's Mill on Halloween 1938 and that the government asked Welles to do the broadcast as a cover-up for the real attack. It's a bit odd that the novel and radio play of War of the Worlds exist in the reality of the movie and series of same, but fortunately the movie altered the events of the novel so completely that you can buy it as just a vague, coincidental resemblance.
I do find it odd that they brought back Robinson but not Gene Barry, who was still actively performing at the time. I wonder if he was just unavailable, or if he didn't want to participate.
New comic for November, a five issue prelude miniseries to the Star Trek: Resurgence videogame:
https://intl.startrek.com/news/star-trek-resurgence-tie-in-comic-book
https://intl.startrek.com/news/star-trek-resurgence-tie-in-comic-book
Exploring the calamitous events of the U.S.S. Resolute preceding the game’s main storyline, the five-issue miniseries will be written by Andrew Grant and Dan Martin with art by Josh Hood (Avatar: The Next Shadow, We Can Never Go Home) and will debut in November.
On a windswept planet bordering the notoriously hostile Talarian Republic, a scientist on the cusp of developing technology that will revolutionize warp goes missing. The crew of the U.S.S. Resolute is tasked with an urgent stealth mission to recover Dr. Leah Brahms and keep her research out of enemy hands!
On a windswept planet bordering the notoriously hostile Talarian Republic, a scientist on the cusp of developing technology that will revolutionize warp goes missing. The crew of the U.S.S. Resolute is tasked with an urgent stealth mission to recover Dr. Leah Brahms and keep her research out of enemy hands!
I'm not familiar with the video game itself, but I must admit, I'm kinda looking forward to seeing an adventure featuring a new (to me, anyway) crew from outside of the canon!
Is that the T'kon logo on the retailer incentive cover?
That has been the speculation since that logo was shown when the game was first revealed.
There is a thread in the trek gaming subforum if anyone wants to check more information: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/star-trek-resurgence-new-star-trek-videogame-announced.309935/ and we had some gameplay videos released since the original announcement (Ambassador Spock is also in the game).
There is a thread in the trek gaming subforum if anyone wants to check more information: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/star-trek-resurgence-new-star-trek-videogame-announced.309935/ and we had some gameplay videos released since the original announcement (Ambassador Spock is also in the game).
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