Is discovery worth it?

[Albinator]

Though disheartened at the pre-production photos that were released, like I said before I went in with an open mind, willing to give it a chance but there were just too many things that started bothering me pretty much from the moment it started. If the makers of STD had said, "We're giving Trek a full reboot," I would probably be able to sit down and watch it in its own right but they didn't, so I had to analyse it, compare it to what has come before. I was left with no strong impulse to even see how the first episode was resolved. As someone wrote on another fan site, STD is Trek in name only, which pretty much sums up my thoughts towards it.

Once the whole series is on Netflix, I may sit down and force myself to endure another episode or two, see if I can bring myself to give a damn about any of the characters, but I'm not holding out much hope. But that's just me, I'm sure many out there enjoy this show and will soon rank it as their favourite, but for me quality of Trek series has steadily declined after DS9.

You did not have to analyze it, you chose to. The tone of this very post belies an inherent dislike of the mere concept, your 'hating everything about it the moment it started' illustrates you went in determined not to enjoy it.

Which is fine, I've done similar to other things, but I don't pretend I'm being fair.

As for what DSC is, it's not just Trek by name only, it's Trek in EVERY SINGLE WAY THAT MATTERS.

 

[johnjm22]

My point was Trek has a long history of being campy and taking itself seriously.......I prefer DSC over the "classic" campy.

Yes it does, but there's a difference between intentionally silly and unintentionally silly.

For example the DS9 mirror universe episodes were intentionally corny fun. Discovery takes itself seriously while being unintentionally corny. "All hail captain Burnham! Long live the empire!" That was such a painfully corny moment. It felt like a children's show.

Despite Discovery's TVMA rating, the show is very immature.

Also what may have worked on TV in 1960's doesn't necessarily work today.

 

[Garth Rockett]

I watched the whole episode and was thoroughly unimpressed with pretty much all of it, though the "sand planet" was pretty idiotic--not to mention a blatant violation of the Prime Directive.

I thought it was pretty consistent with how General Order One was applied in TOS.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Honestly, you can get a week-long free trial of CBSAA. There's ten episodes, so watch like three or four with no financial investment and you'll get a good idea of what you're in for.

 

[David]

Too many people in this forum wearing rose tinted glasses, holding TOS and TNG on a pedestal, not realising it either took time to get decent or it had a lot of crap episodes.

This is a Star Trek show. Its set in the original universe.

However if you can’t get over the fact that it’s not like earlier trek then let me let you on to a secret, you will never like any other trek cos it’s not the 60’s or the 80’s or 90’s.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Too many people in this forum wearing rose tinted glasses, holding TOS and TNG on a pedestal, not realising it either took time to get decent or it had a lot of crap episodes.

This is a Star Trek show. Its set in the original universe.

However if you can’t get over the fact that it’s not like earlier trek then let me let you on to a secret, you will never like any other trek cos it’s not the 60’s or the 80’s or 90’s.

Imagine if TNG season 1 came out this year, in this climate. Holy shit.

 

[Albinator]

Yes it does, but there's a difference between intentionally silly and unintentionally silly.

For example the DS9 mirror universe episodes were intentionally corny fun. Discovery takes itself seriously while being unintentionally corny. "All hail captain Burnham! Long live the empire!" That was such a painfully corny moment. It felt like a children's show.

Despite Discovery's TVMA rating, the show is very immature.

Also what may have worked on TV in 1960's doesn't necessarily work today.

The moment you mention was a bit less "real" than what we've seen, but I'd hardly call it a painful children's show./. You want painful? ANY ORIGINAL SERIES EPISODE. To your own point, that show is a product of it's time, good for the 60s, but hard to take seriously today. I laugh out loud any time I see it.

 

[Albinator]

I thought it was pretty consistent with how General Order One was applied in TOS.

Not only that, but if I recall, wasn't it mentioned that they themselves accidentally caused the problem, which is why they felt a responsibility to fix it? Could be wrong, I don't remember all the details.

 

[Feron]

Well, if Discovery doesn't meet your high standards, you can always go back to watching this:

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[Vger23]

The first two episodes are probably the weakest ones so far, IMHO.

And if violations of the Prime Directive were enough to make us stop watching Trek, we would have all quit a very long time ago and many times over.

Ain't that the straight truth!

 

[Vger23]

Yes it does, but there's a difference between intentionally silly and unintentionally silly.

For example the DS9 mirror universe episodes were intentionally corny fun. Discovery takes itself seriously while being unintentionally corny. "All hail captain Burnham! Long live the empire!" That was such a painfully corny moment. It felt like a children's show.

Despite Discovery's TVMA rating, the show is very immature.

Also what may have worked on TV in 1960's doesn't necessarily work today.

I think it's interesting that some people have come in here and railed on the show for being too serious, not having enough humor, grim dark, etc...and then there's other people who think it's too campy and too silly. Bottom line: if you don't like it you don't like it and you'll find a reason to justify it.

I also think it's rather ironic to compare DSC to a "children's show" when the characters, heavy handed/obvious ethics, and narrow style of TNG and VOY, for example, remind me more of an After School Special than a thoughtful and fun science fiction show.

 

[guyute03]

Discovery is a good Star Trek TV show.
It's also probably the best first season of any Trek series ever.

Is Discovery worth it?
Yes.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Ain't that the straight truth!

The Prime Directive is just a plot device. It's the glass vase that is there basically to be knocked off the table or examined askance.

 

[JRS]

"Did somebody here say corny?"
Yes, Discovery is worth watching..and it is a good Star Trek series also

 

[Albinator]

I think it's interesting that some people have come in here and railed on the show for being too serious, not having enough humor, grim dark, etc...and then there's other people who think it's too campy and too silly. Bottom line: if you don't like it you don't like it and you'll find a reason to justify it.

I also think it's rather ironic to compare DSC to a "children's show" when the characters, heavy handed/obvious ethics, and narrow style of TNG and VOY, for example, remind me more of an After School Special than a thoughtful and fun science fiction show.

Not to mention that-- and please remember this is coming from someone who adores 90s Trek, even Voyager-- much of the acting, direction, and dialog felt like it was straight out of those after-school specials. Some of the speeches given by Picard and Janeway felt like they were written by Linda Ellerbee.

 

[Vger23]

Not to mention that-- and please remember this is coming from someone who adores 90s Trek, even Voyager-- much of the acting, direction, and dialog felt like it was straight out of those after-school specials. Some of the speeches given by Picard and Janeway felt like they were written by Linda Ellerbee.

Absolutely. I have nothing inherently against 90's Trek either. I like most of it, and love a good amount of it. BUT, I'm under no illusions about its "maturity" either.

 

[Albinator]

Absolutely. I have nothing inherently against 90's Trek either. I like most of it, and love a good amount of it. BUT, I'm under no illusions about its "maturity" either.

Even the edgiest DS9 episodes still had an air of blandness to them, compared to TV today. Go to TNG and VOY and it could be downright saccharine.

 

[gblews]

To me, filler means episodes that were produced hastily to pad out a season when they were running short of ideas or time.

From my earlier post in this thread:

Some describe "filler" as episodes that occur when a show's writers run out of ideas for the overall season story arc and present an episode(s) as a "placeholder" in order to fill out whatever the number of episodes needed to complete a season. I don't think there is a professional screenwriter working in TV today who does not have enough ideas to fill out a 15 episode or 24 episode or even 100 episode season. Hell. the X-Files managed to extend a story arc over 9 seasons and 2 movies. Now, we might not like all of the arc episodes, but that's a separate issue. What I'm saying is that writers don't write "filler" episodes because there is no need to do so.

 

[Mudd]

So I am trying to decide if discovery is worth watching. I will wait till the whole first season is out if I do watch it. But I was turned off by the trailers, they made it look like some generic sci fi action show. So my question is: is discovery good Star Trek? Or is it some generic sci fi show?

It's mediocre television, but if you're desperate for something labeled Star Trek, well...that's the brand name.

The cast is uniformly good. Conceptually, it's lame. If what you want is the comfort of the familiar and the repetitious, this is your show. If you love to see them piling on the fanwank, it's Heaven.

 

[Awesome Possum]

I like it. It’s Trek in a different format. It takes a longer and deeper exploration of certain stories and ideas. The characters are interesting and actually seem like people.