Reasons not to make a Pike show

[Lord Garth]

Its not "hate". Its we have had almost 700 frigging episodes of Star Trek that was done this way(outside of S3 of Enterprise and some of DS9). We've had two season of serialized Trek in Discovery that add up to a little of one seasons of TNG/TOS style trek.

All they want is TOS and TNG with current production values. They don't want anything else. The minute it deviates from TOS/TNG with production values of the time, they don't like it anymore. DS9, arguably VOY, and DSC are all examples of this. Picard will be another example. I've now seen enough of this over time to pick up the pattern.

The OP likes: TOS, TNG, ENT, and Kelvin. The OP doesn't like: DS9, VOY, and DSC. What do the first four he likes have in common that the other three don't? The Enterprise, "boldly going", with a lead he identifies with, living out a particular common fantasy. Pike would fit that paradigm. Discovery and Picard don't.

It all comes down to personal taste and trying to paint it as anything else is trying to make one thing look like something it isn't.

I think they'll make the Pike Series for the same reason they're making Picard. When DSC was introduced, there were people screaming, "We want to go passed Nemesis!" So they created Picard to appeal to that crowd. A Pike Series would do the same. It would appeal to another niche. If CBSAA wants to fill up the calendar with Star Trek all year, then there are plenty of niches and this is just one of them. It's like SiriusXM going out of its way to cater to people with so many different musical tastes. That's what this is.

I happen to like what Short Treks is doing, so I wouldn't mind seeing a longer version of that. So it's not as if a Pike Series wouldn't appeal to my tastes as well. But I also like Discovery.

And there will be a lot of overlap between Pike Fans and Discovery Fans.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Yeah, when a show's as badly written as STD there's sure no virtue to "story arcs" - those people have enough trouble writing an episode.

Here's a reason not to make a Pike show: They'd be tempted to have a pointless and badly-executed story arc that was conceived under the process of incestuous amplification as the through line, and they won't open it up to story submissions, won't recruit professional science fiction authors, and/or won't adapt pre-existing science fiction stories from outside Star Trek for a procedural format. The procedural format that admitted a variety of independent influences was one of the major factors that made TOS and TNG successes.

 

[Mudd]

The procedural format that admitted a variety of independent influences was one of the major factors that made TOS and TNG successes.

Exactly so.

Kurtzman's job is not so much creative as it is to manage a product line.

 

[Noname Given]

Its not "hate". Its we have had almost 700 frigging episodes of Star Trek that was done this way(outside of S3 of Enterprise and some of DS9). We've had two season of serialized Trek in Discovery that add up to a little of one seasons of TNG/TOS style trek.

By that logic - with 700+ hours of TV Trek and 13 feature films...why bother doing any more Star Trek period?

 

[plynch]

By that logic - with 700+ hours of TV Trek and 13 feature films...why bother doing any more Star Trek period?

I agree and wish they'd stop. But... the reason:

Make money for CBS shareholders. I think/hope Chabon has a vision and a story to tell. GR, yes for the 100th time, I know he liked money as do I -- but he was an individual who wanted to tell certain stories in a certain universe. Now it's a name to have "product" created to carry the nameplate and draw eyeballs to CBSAA.

 

[BillJ]

All they want is TOS and TNG with current production values.

Nope. I want good stories, and believe that can be done in both episodic and arc form. Why chain yourself to one or the other when both are available?

 

[Lord Garth]

Nope. I want good stories, and believe that can be done in both episodic and arc form. Why chain yourself to one or the other when both are available?

True. It's not a binary choice. But what are some DS9 or VOY episodes you like?

 

[BillJ]

But what are some DS9 or VOY episodes you like?

Quite a few, actually. Too many to type on my iPad.

 

[Lord Garth]

Quite a few, actually. Too many to type on my iPad.

iPads are evil.

 

[Alan Roi]

Nope. I want good stories, and believe that can be done in both episodic and arc form. Why chain yourself to one or the other when both are available?

For the same reason scifi novels became the dominant form over the short story and albums became the dominant form over singles. Audience's tastes and interests changed, certain attention spans increased, grew more complex, demanded more to gain their attention and that required a more complex form to appeal to the prevailing audience.

 

[Boris Skrbic]

The reason not to make a Pike show is that it’s doable.

 

[BillJ]

For the same reason scifi novels became the dominant form over the short story and albums became the dominant form over singles. Audience's tastes and interests changed, certain attention spans increased, grew more complex, demanded more to gain their attention and that required a more complex form to appeal to the prevailing audience.

I’m sorry. There’s nothing about Discovery that’s been complex.

 

[Alan Roi]

I’m sorry. There’s nothing about Discovery that’s been complex.

As compared to what single Star Trek episode from a previous series? Please amuse me.

 

[Lord Garth]

I think the most awkward thing will be not the series but the Pike Forum. Some bridges have been burned. Permanently.

And yet some of us will be fans of the same series. Potentially participating in the same threads on the same side of an argument. How the fuck is that supposed to work?

 

[BillJ]

And yet some of us will be fans of the same series. Potentially participating in the same threads on the same side of an argument. How the fuck is that supposed to work?

Humans are complex, and don’t think in lock step?

We’ve went round and round on some things, disagreed on others. I don’t think any less of you because of disagreements.

 

[Lord Garth]

Humans are complex, and don’t think in lock step?

We’ve went round and round on some things, disagreed on others. I don’t think any less of you because of disagreements.

No, no, no. I'm not talking about you. You know who I'm talking about. I just... I might as well just say it. I don't know how you and others can stomach Serveaux.

 

[BillJ]

I don't know how you and others can stomach Serveaux.

Nothing wrong with most folks here, including him. We sometimes get passionate about our viewpoints, and sometimes bluster gets in the way of the points we are making. In common terms: we can all be dicks from time to time.

The worst thing any of us can do is take Trek overly serious. It is entertainment.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The reason not to make a Pike show is that it’s doable.

Huh?

 

[Lord Garth]

Nothing wrong with most folks here, including him. We sometimes get passionate about our viewpoints, and sometimes bluster gets in the way of the points we are making. In common terms: we can all be dicks from time to time.

I know exactly what you mean.

But at the same time: I can't be the only one who feels the same way. In fact, I know I'm not. I'll have to learn to co-exist with him, if we want to stick around. Intellectually, I know that. Others who feel the same as I do will have to learn to co-exist with him as well. But it's also a two-way street.

What I'm saying about a lot of potential Pike Fans also being DSC Fans is true. I think it would go a long way if he were less off-putting than he has been in the past and at least tried to make people feel less antagonized. It wouldn't kill him. It would make people more apt to want to side with him in that future Pike Forum, than they would right now, as things have been over the past two years.

EDIT (11/18/19): With his new avatar ("no one cares"), he's made his message and his intentions clear.

 

[BillJ]

What I'm saying about a lot of potential Pike Fans also being DSC Fans is true. I think it would go a long way if he were less off-putting than he has been in the past and make people feel less antagonized. It would make people more apt to want to side with him in that future Pike Forum, than they would right now, as things have been over the past two years.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m not really worried who sides with me. That isn’t something I ever think about when posting.

I’m more interested in getting folks honest viewpoints.