Could we be getting an alien captain?
- Thread starter Mage
- Start date
Maybe not. We don't know what to expect when the season is going to be a single novelistic arc in the modern style instead of an episodic series like older Treks. Maybe the ship isn't even launched until several episodes in. Maybe the first few episodes cover a single landing-party mission commanded by the first officer. Maybe the original captain is killed in the pilot and it's several episodes before a new one is assigned. There are any number of possibilities.
Where was it announced that all of Discovery S1 is going to be a single novelistic arc?
Besides, there aren't many dramas these days that don't have unifying seasonal arcs, even if they're basically episodic.
Are you really surprised it's an arc? Nearly every TV show is arc-based in some manner today, and this one is being released through a streaming service, a medium tailor-made for arcs.
I am, because I've watched every Star Trek and they've always had a decent balance of arcs and stand alone episodes. Don't recall many arcs being interesting, so it doesn't really instill a feeling of optimism.
Not really, Star Trek is overwhelmingly standalone with arc only present in DS9's later years and seasons 3 and 4 of Enterprise. Star Trek clung too long to sticking with stand-alones even after arcs were becoming a thing in modern TV. Standalones were outdated in 2001 and they're pretty much non-existent today. A truly modern Trek series is going to be arc-based, and I for one welcome this.
Except that the last Trek series went off the air nearly a dozen years ago and TV has evolved since then. A show being made today has to be made for audiences today, because it can't succeed if it appeals only to old viewers instead of new ones. Heck, even that last Trek series devoted its entire third season to a serialized arc and its fourth to a succession of smaller arcs.
And there are other revivals or remakes out there that are more arc-driven than their originals, e.g. Doctor Who, The Flash, MacGyver, the recently-ended Beauty and the Beast, etc. (I'd cite Battlestar Galactica too, but the original show was surprisingly serialized for its day.) So it's not like we haven't seen it happen before.
And as soon as Enterprise went into arcs it lost its original appeal that was unique and inspiring. Season 4 was barely watchable to me, even though I absolutely loved the first two seasons - consider those among the best in the Trek universe.
I, definitely, do not welcome following them embracing the trend at the expense of telling quality stories. Not saying I'm going to be totally pessimistic about it, I'm sure it's possible to write an exciting arc, like something based on "Who Watches The Watchers" (TNG) that has tremendous potential to expand on the story. But instead all arcs have been so bad, to date, that they could have been set on Earth in the 15th century and still tell the same story, more or less. Arcs have always used species that were basically versions of humanity with exaggerating features, maybe except for the Borg stretches in VOY. I can still see the appeal in them, but it's no different from watching any other show, it's just not true ST.
Enterprise went from
Season 1 ... 80% excitement
Season 2 ... 90% excitement
Season 3 ... 50% excitement
Season 4 .... 30% excitement
No doubt due to the introduction of long arcs
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I'm not that old, I'm 30, - the demographic that has the most money and will subscribe to CBS All Access just to watch new Trek. I work in advertising and it doesn't pay to target teenagers. I doubt it's their strategy, I'm sure they have decent execs at CBS.
If standalone is what is considered "True Star Trek" than I say ditch it like a diseased fork at dinner.
Oh, wow. You really are naïve, aren't you?
That's your opinion, but in reality stand alone Trek is yet to be surpassed by anything on TV.
Why wouldn't they?
What? Don't get me wrong, I love Star Trek to the point I consider it my religion and consider myself a clergyman of the faith, but even I know better than to make a statement like that and pass it off as "reality." Yes, even in the standalone days Star Trek provided some great stuff, this can not be denied by anyone on this forum. But let's not act as though this is the pinnacle of what television can be, because it totally isn't. Not by a long shot.
I question the existence of a decent TV exec in general.
Wait, you think only teenagers watched arc based stories? You think primarily teenagers were watching Breaking Bad? Justified? Sons of Anarchy? Mad Men? The Walking Dead? Game of Thrones? Dozens of others? No, it was adults ages 18-49, the prime demo.
No, I don't. I liked Breaking Bad and Mad Men, it would be weird if these shows constituted of stand alone episodes.
Star Trek is a unique show that explores ideas and the future of our species. When it's derailed into some juvenile pew-pew conflict, it loses its magic, so to speak. Not saying that it's impossible to write an arc that's exciting, original and doesn't involve star wars with species that are all at the same level of technological development, but it hasn't been achieved to-date. These are just lazy stories that could be set anywhere, anytime.
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I'm all for television reaching for new heights. I'll pay top dollar for anything that's better than Star Trek.
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