How would SNW be viewed had it been the FIRST NuTrek series in 2017?

[Roald]

If SNW (being exactly like it is now, minus the DSC references) had been the FIRST of the NuTrek series way back in 2017, how do you think people would have viewed it?

I think it would have been viewed a lot less positive than it is now... I think many people would cry havoc about the visual changes, about the tone, the recasts etc. I think people would find the episodic formula very outdated and safe... Maybe it took the out-of-the-box styles (for Trek) of DSC and PIC to really appreciate SNW the way we do now........?

 

[fireproof78]

If SNW (being exactly like it is now, minus the DSC references) had been the FIRST of the NuTrek series way back in 2017, how do you think people would have viewed it?

Hated. Completely hated. And I don't say that to be flip. I was recently reviewing the Halo series and just for kicks and giggles looked at a video titled "True Halo finally appears." What was of interest was the comments that centered around "being true to the games," and "not bothering with all the emotional stuff." It was a very much boxed in style of thinking of going "Halo is only this one thing" and I see Trek treated the same way. Pike showing off the Enterprise in the first episode would be decried as "not real Star Trek" because he violated the Prime Directive. The transporter doesn't work that way, Pike is unfit for command, etc.

In short, it wouldn't be treated as well or welcomed like it has in the hyperbolic sense of "Star Trek is back, baby!" time reactions that are so effusive and over the top as to not be taken seriously.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

People would definitely be complaining about small universe syndrome, saying why use these beloved characters and the Enterprise rather than create something new. And saying episodic Trek is dead. But it's great to hear a broad response of love for any new Trek here.

 

[Cyrus]

There would be complaints about the episodic nature of the series. And more complaints about the 3 main actors, and how they are not right for the characters they are playing.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Every new Trek series is hated. Even this one. Just poke around a bit.

 

[Caeruleus]

If SNW (being exactly like it is now, minus the DSC references) had been the FIRST of the NuTrek series way back in 2017, how do you think people would have viewed it?

I think it would have been viewed a lot less positive than it is now... I think many people would cry havoc about the visual changes, about the tone, the recasts etc. I think people would find the episodic formula very outdated and safe... Maybe it took the out-of-the-box styles (for Trek) of DSC and PIC to really appreciate SNW the way we do now........?

Well we were poisoned with Star Trek Discovery. After that this looks like a cure. The end.

 

[Paul755]

I think it would have been more well regarded that Discovery was/is.

People would have complained about the episodic structure (ugh…Berman-Trek) and people still would have issues with the show breaking visual continuity.

 

[Donald G]

My reaction in 2017 would've been the same as it is today in 2022: "If only the Abrams movies were like this!"

To this day, I really hate the production design and writing of the first two Kelvin films. I did like their casting, however.

SNW is what I wanted in 2009.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I think the reaction would've been more along the lines of 'Well it's a lot like you'd expect, basically retreading the Kelvin movies on the small screen' more than 'They've brought real Star Trek back!' Though I feel like all those YouTube haters fighting in the culture war wouldn't have gained so much traction early on, as it gives them less to complain about.

 

[Jadeb]

The loons would have still complained — OMG, woman with short hair! — but I think the reception among more reasonable fans would have been much better.

Really, the goals of these shows are quite different — Discovery aimed to draw in new fans at the risk of alienating the old, while SNW doubles down on the tried-and-true in response to the Discovery backlash. I think CBS realized where its bread is buttered in terms of Star Trek.

 

[Mudd]

Personally, I wonder more about what Trek would be like now if this had premiered in 1987 as the first new Star Trek series after the original.

Meaningless and illogical speculation, all things considered.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

I think fans would've been blown away by the better-than-movie-quality visuals and very confused by terms like 'for the win'.

 

[DarKush]

I think some people would've been picking it apart, though perhaps not as hard as ENT when it came to canonicity. I also think that some, like some are now, would feel that SNW wasn't different, new, or fresh enough. There might be a feeling of been there, done that.

All that said, I don't think SNW would have been as polarizing as DISCO. Part of that is the visuals. SNW has three white actors in lead roles, with a white male captain who is depicted heroically, so that would less likely trigger the fandom menace crowd.

And while SNW has made some stylistic, aesthetic changes, it still appears to be mostly in keeping with already established design aesthetics so people who took issue with the changes in DISCO wouldn't have as much of an issue to complain about. Also, the episodic storytelling and the more ensemble focus I think are less risky than what DISCO and PIC have attempted.

SNW, coming after the other new Trek, ironically enough does feel fresh enough in terms of its tone and storytelling format after the swings (and misses) of the preceding new Trek series.

 

[Timofnine]

“With contempt and scorn”

- @cardinal biggles , circa 2022 ©

 

[ananta]

Well we were poisoned with Star Trek Discovery. After that this looks like a cure. The end.

The constant bitching about Discovery in this forum is beyond tedious. Yeah, a lot of fans lost their rag but it reinvented Trek for a modern age, brought in new fans (I know a number of non-Trek fans who got hooked on s1&2 on Netflix) and ushered in an unprecedented golden age of Trek with multiple series running simultaneously. It also, lest we forget, was basically a back door pilot for SNW.

 

[STEPhon IT]

If SNW (being exactly like it is now, minus the DSC references) had been the FIRST of the NuTrek series way back in 2017, how do you think people would have viewed it?

I think it would have been viewed a lot less positive than it is now... I think many people would cry havoc about the visual changes, about the tone, the recasts etc. I think people would find the episodic formula very outdated and safe... Maybe it took the out-of-the-box styles (for Trek) of DSC and PIC to really appreciate SNW the way we do now........?

And maybe many would adore it and think its the best thing ever made in Star Trek. People would find the episodic format true to form and faithful to the source material. Tastes are different and that's not a bad thing. If you enjoy these things, what does it matter if anyone doesn't???

 

[Donald G]

I think fans would've been blown away by the better-than-movie-quality visuals and very confused by terms like 'for the win'.

Apparently, assuming that these 1987 fans were American, they never watched the Peter Marshall incarnation of "The Hollywood Squares" growing up.

 

[Noname Given]

If SNW (being exactly like it is now, minus the DSC references) had been the FIRST of the NuTrek series way back in 2017, how do you think people would have viewed it?

I think it would have been viewed a lot less positive than it is now... I think many people would cry havoc about the visual changes, about the tone, the recasts etc. I think people would find the episodic formula very outdated and safe... Maybe it took the out-of-the-box styles (for Trek) of DSC and PIC to really appreciate SNW the way we do now........?

IDK oh, it pretty much was a part of the First new Star Trek series as Pike appeared in person in the very first season of Star Trek Discovery season 2; and even though we know Akiva Goldsman was wanting to do/pushing for a Captain Pike based series, and it was one of the reasons they agreed to have the Enterprise make an appearance in the very last few minutes of the final episode of season 1; it was the overwhelmingly positive fan response to Anson Mount as Captain Pike in STD season 2 that convinced Alex Kurtzman to put such a series into production. But overall it was effectively a part of the First new Star Trek series, STD pretty much from the beginning.

So yeah Anson Mount as Captain Pike has been overwhelmingly popular with Star Trek fans since he first appeared on the screen in 2019.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

The constant bitching about Discovery in this forum is beyond tedious. Yeah, a lot of fans lost their rag but it reinvented Trek for a modern age, brought in new fans (I know a number of non-Trek fans who got hooked on s1&2 on Netflix) and ushered in an unprecedented golden age of Trek with multiple series running simultaneously. It also, lest we forget, was basically a back door pilot for SNW.

Exactly, that's the irony: this show originated because of DSC. Fans liked DSC Pike so much that they demanded a spin-off show. If Discovery writers were as hopeless as some would pretend them to be, then there wouldn't have been demand for the spin-off at all, and it never would've happened. Obviously they did something right, but the haters don't want to acknowledge that.

 

[Mudd]

STD is dire, and the writing is awful.