More writers goood at writing unironic optimistic stories in the past?

[USS Pertinax]

I think Discovery has some dark elements here and there, but is essentially optimistic without irony as well. Sometimes goofily so.

Without knowing or remembering the context i cannot remember any TNG character being goofy in the same way. It seems very post mass adoption of the Internet goofy.

 

[The Wormhole]

Are you saying Goofy and Optimistic are mutually exclusive concepts?

 

[1001001]

Early Wesley Crusher was goofy and optimistic.

 

[DonIago]

Early Wesley Crusher was goofy and optimistic.

Then he was unintentionally ironic and optimistic and goofy when he said Starfleet doesn't lie.

I do wonder whether the writers themselves meant that line sincerely...

 

[Sketcher]

Data getting his fingers stuck in a Chinese finger puzzle seemed...goofy.

 

[The Wormhole]

To say nothing of the time Data was doing a goofy Sherlock Holmes impression while discussing the death of another officer.

 

[Qonundrum]

To say nothing of the time Data was doing a goofy Sherlock Holmes impression while discussing the death of another officer.

That was easier to buy into as Data was still learning about the human condition. The finger trap gag, however, was comparatively bad, even more so as Data probably can load up every bit of physics information very quickly and should be able to use applied heuristic and later techniques based on the device's source principal mechanisms to work his way out of the trick and faster than Geordi pointing out how to remove his fingers from the holes, complete with spouting secondary definitions on how said device can be used in numerous practical ways (like maintaining traction when setting up a cast for healing a broken bone, something Dr. Pulaski knew but Crasher didn't, but I digress again)... And if his gag didn't suggest the etymology behind "gag", then nothing will...

 

[The Wormhole]

That was easier to buy into as Data was still learning about the human condition.

That doesn't explain why everyone else tolerated it, particularly Picard and Riker given Data is essentially treating the death of a fellow officer in a lighthearted manner at an official briefing.

 

[Qonundrum]

That doesn't explain why everyone else tolerated it, particularly Picard and Riker given Data is essentially treating the death of a fellow officer in a lighthearted manner at an official briefing.

I forgot about that detail, the engineer-of-the-week merry-go-round goldshirt (since TNG swapped red and yellow for the security and engineering divisions) had died in an accident and all of a sudden everyone's questioning the robustness of the shiny new ship... Later season 1 stories do discuss the "enlightened" status of the crew, which would explain their calmheadedness and detachment and other things that ther DSM-V may or may not be able to answer in other ways, but I digress: The senior staff clearly overlooking the severity of it all to indulge in Data's antics, and for the sake of argument let's say that's because they acknowledge the breadth and depth of Data's capabilities and quirks (sans some minutiae that thankfully the crew ignore as Picard responds with some of his own... never mind Riker's own colloquialism piquing Data's interest to begin with... which means, it's more likely just questionable scripting choices to make this mishmash of juxtaposed dialogue... Dr Soong would definitely program Data with everything from the 19th century... or maybe not , but some of the surrounding themes and principles are timeless, so Data may understand some of the techniques without knowing the individuals (real or fiction) engaging in them.)

Then again, when everyone's questioning the ship's stability and the life of everyone on the ship, that's not exactly time to be dawdling either - no matter how calm and enlightened future-human is said to be, the phrase "save it for later" does come to mind... the song as well, but that was yesterday. Meanwhile:

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Season 1 of TNG, much as I do love it, had a partial habit of mismatching serious scenes with questionable frivolity. Another great example is showing us Geordi's VISOR from his perspective-- in a scene already set up in requiring immediate urgency, and a simple fix for that episode is to not spring the real depth and breadth of an emergency until Geordi confirms the problem via the VISOR and reports it. (Any ship can be in distress or broken down, sure, but their traipsing into a post-battle setup alone is a giveaway that what's going on is too large and severe. Especially when life support systems, propulsion, navigation, and all communication systems are down, that's not a sign of "Let's treat this casually." )

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Then he was unintentionally ironic and optimistic and goofy when he said Starfleet doesn't lie.

I do wonder whether the writers themselves meant that line sincerely...

I think they did. The TNG writers unfortunately wrote Wesley like he was 10 years old instead of 15-16 in the early seasons.

 

[DonIago]

I think they did. The TNG writers unfortunately wrote Wesley like he was 10 years old instead of 15-16 in the early seasons.

Or...they actually believed that Starfleet officers should never be lying and had a teenager voice the sentiment, which sounds good in ideal circumstances but doesn't hold up in reality. It makes Wesley look sheltered/naive though. It would have been interesting if after he said that there'd been a cutaway to Picard fidgeting uncomfortably.

 

[Qonundrum]

I think they did. The TNG writers unfortunately wrote Wesley like he was 10 years old instead of 15-16 in the early seasons.

It's a shame Wesley changed career paths. With dialogue like what he was given, he'd have made a terrific spokesperson but what's sold in a butter commercial.

Or...they actually believed that Starfleet officers should never be lying and had a teenager voice the sentiment, which sounds good in ideal circumstances but doesn't hold up in reality. It makes Wesley look sheltered/naive though. It would have been interesting if after he said that there'd been a cutaway to Picard fidgeting uncomfortably.

Or, better yet, Riker, what with his antics with Admiral Pressman as told in "The Pegasus" and all!

 

[DonIago]

(epilogue)
Riker: Well, we were lucky to get out of there with Wesley alive. Still, I have reservations...
Picard: About what, Number one?
Riker: Sir, he claimed that Starfleet officers never lie.
Picard: A lie our young Mister Crusher himself believes, so for him, can it really be considered a lie?
Riker: Captain, you and I have both done things during our Starfleet careers that we're not proud of...
Picard (eyes narrow): Oh, have we? Something you'd like to share, Number One?

 

[Qonundrum]

(epilogue)
Riker: Well, we were lucky to get out of there with Wesley alive. Still, I have reservations...
Picard: About what, Number one?
Riker: Sir, he claimed that Starfleet officers never lie.
Picard: A lie our young Mister Crusher himself believes, so for him, can it really be considered a lie?
Riker: Captain, you and I have both done things during our Starfleet careers that we're not proud of...
Picard (eyes narrow): Oh, have we? Something you'd like to share, Number One?

Riker: "Yes captain, that is true. I sold a pound of imitation butter spread to an android, after claiming he could eat it just like us. And nothing else. "

 

[Mudd]

Not talking about the very distant past.

Were there more writers capable writing optimistic optimistic fiction during the TNG run?

Which i guess despite its flaws and some misguided episodes i see it as peak optimistic Trek outside of TOS.

Were there more active American and Canadian writers capable of doing that without irony and self mockery compared to today?

Should the rights holders had been more open to embracing more foreign writers and even translating their work into English if there is less proven talent out there that can do that?

No.

 

[USS Pertinax]

No.

Because...