How do I think we will feel? I couldn't care less about how anyone else feels about a TV show. If I find a show enjoyable, I'll watch. If not, I'll find something else to occupy my time. With regards to ST: Discovery itself, there is precious little information available to base any opinion on. It's rather pointless to concern myself with the potential quality of something that hasn't been filmed yet, much less aired.
How do you think we will feel if "Discovery" is just a decent show but nothing special?
- Thread starter Jayson1
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If it's not atrocious, it should create a fanbase as long as it's decent, and that'll be enough to move merch, which will encourage more seasons. And that's enough for me.
There's always that moment of "buyer's remorse" where what we get didn't live up to the ever growing expectations we had going in. It's inevitable to some point since what we get won't be exactly what any one of us hoped or imagined. But I fully hope it will excite me in unexpected ways and avoid disappointing me in too large a way.
A trailer at some point would go a long way to temper either extreme.
A trailer at some point would go a long way to temper either extreme.
Well, I made it all the way through "decent but nothing special" shows like Voyager and Enterprise and still found enough in them to be entertained, so the same will apply here. A new Trek show would have to be spectacularly godawful to get me to stop watching it entirely.
I'll hope for more from Discovery, but won't be terribly surprised if it's enjoyable but not amazing or groundbreaking.
T.V is full of 'decent shows but nothing special', so one more won't kill me.
P.S Define 'special'...
P.S Define 'special'...
True dat...
I would define it as a tv show that we see as being a all time great show that we feel will stand the test of time. Maybe it even becomes iconic or at least something that makes a impact of pulp culture.
Jason
"Special" = TOS and TNG have both been cited as responsible for inspiring real-world people to make real-world tech advances and to pursue important jobs (like astronauts, engineers, etc). Possibly the other Trek series have, too. Not sure "Galactica 1980" or "Earth 2" have too many people citing them as inspirational. 
In fairness I think there is a roster of shows which, for whatever reason, enter into a pantheon of 'special' shows, because they broke new ground, tried a new twist on the genre, had a remarkable cultural impact, or were just particularly special or memorable. Even if people dislike nuBSG, most would acknowledge that it was an extraordinary sci-fi show which created a whole new niche in the genre. The X Files is another example which jumps to mind, along with Doctor Who, Blakes 7, The Twilight Zone, maybe Firefly and Futurama. Both TOS and TNG can probably pretend to this throne, but I wouldn't say any of the more recent Trek shows could.
In it's time, TOS was VERY special, TNG kinda sorta special when it tried, the other Trek series, nope. Doesn't mean they weren't good, they just weren't special. I would say Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, and nuBSG were special. The Expanse is starting out that way, but we'll have to wait on that one. X-Files was great, but not special IMO.
I'd agree with most of your list. I think it's interesting that you'd say that TOS could "probably" make the list. Let's be frank: without TOS...there's very little chance that many of these shows would have ever even existed. TOS is probably one of the most "special" shows ever broadcast...regardless of genre or era.
I'd say:
TOS
Twilight Zone
Firefly
X Files
nuBattlestar Galactica (which was basically just "the Anti-Star Trek"...but still great)
Lost
I'd not include TNG, Doctor Who or Blakes 7 on the list of truly special sci-fi shows.
I also think there are some pretty recent genre shows that are still on which may go down as "special" even though they do not have broad audience appeal:
Westworld
The Leftovers
I'm intrigued. Why not?
Because I don't find it uniquely special or enabling in the genre. I'm not measuring "popularity" here. Also, I just don't really like it. Not at all in fact. So, I'm not speaking from an objective place.
Hope that helps.
How do you think we will feel if "Discovery" is just a decent show but nothing special?
To me, this is about the best I am hoping for. I look at the Trek's I grew up with, (TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT) and remember that they didn't hit their stride until 3 seasons in. So if Discovery is going to stand among them, it will take time.
To me, this is about the best I am hoping for. I look at the Trek's I grew up with, (TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT) and remember that they didn't hit their stride until 3 seasons in. So if Discovery is going to stand among them, it will take time.
If DSC's first season is decent but nothing special, my reaction will be: "Wow, that was a much better first season than TNG's!"
I've long said that I would rather we had gotten another 2-3 seasons of "fair to good" seasons of TNG than the 4 movies we got. With the seasons, that's another several dozen stories to find little bits of background info and character moments to explore.
So if Discovery turns out to be 5-6 seasons of only "pretty good" new Trek stories, I'll be perfectly happy. In fact, that's probably easier - to set ourselves up for "okay" so we can be blown away by "pretty darn good."
So if Discovery turns out to be 5-6 seasons of only "pretty good" new Trek stories, I'll be perfectly happy. In fact, that's probably easier - to set ourselves up for "okay" so we can be blown away by "pretty darn good."
I think if anyone's expecting a genre-defining masterpiece, or something that's gonna change the world and inspire a generation from Discovery, you're gonna be disappointed.
Just hope to be entertained for 42 minutes at a time and hopefully you'll be good
Just hope to be entertained for 42 minutes at a time and hopefully you'll be good
As long as the premiere isn't botched badly, I can watch decent. If it tries to replay the old tropes about mind invasions, time travel, etc., that would put it in the nothing special category, because I think those tropes are worn out.
Some fans think Voyager was decent but nothing special, because it did last seven seasons, but some just felt it could have been much better. But then, Voyager ended just as the franchise fatigue set in.
Some fans think Voyager was decent but nothing special, because it did last seven seasons, but some just felt it could have been much better. But then, Voyager ended just as the franchise fatigue set in.
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