Mods: if you feel this should be in the Fan Productions forum then move it there. But given STC is so tied to TOS I thought it would have greater exposure here in the TOS/TAS forum.
It's been quite awhile since I've done a Star Trek series rewatch and I still plan to do that, but recently I've had the urge to do a slightly different rewatch by revisiting a series that purported to springboard from the third season of TOS as a (greatly) abbreviated fourth and fifth season: Star Trek Continues.
Several years ago I was initially quite a fan of STC as it felt (to me) the most authentic and faithful of fan productions. The premise was to give us further adventures of our heroes aboard the Enterprise as if they had been produced in 1969/70. To a very large extent they did that. Anyone watching STC could almost swear it was filmed back in the day with the major exception of a wholly new cast playing the familiar characters as well as introducing a couple of new ones.
STC did a lot of things I liked and applauded and some things I had issue with which I felt undermined its overall intent. Some of those issues would be very difficult to avoid while others could have been fixed with some editing of the script.
I would rather evaluate the episodes on an individual basis where my criticisms, whatever they might be, are in regard to the story and storytelling itself rather than whatever overall issues I might have with the series. So allow me to get those out of the way first.
Pros:
In terms of production the series looks fantastic and even professional. Rarely does it look like it was made "on the cheap." Indeed I can think of only one instance where it looked "off" and it's not really bad in the sense I think very few might even notice. Contemporary production resources make it possible to recreate the look of the original series possibly much more easily than it was done originally in the 1960s. Filming the series in the old-school 4:3 aspect ratio also lends it a more authentic look rather than using the contemporary 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. The series also usually excelled in terms of vfx except on rare occasion when something looked a bit too contemporary and making it look out of place for something that was supposed to look like it was made in 1969/70. The vfx of the Enterprise in particular is outstanding, not surprising given Doug Drexler had a hand in bringing the Enterprise to life in STC. The result is a cgi model that looks far superior to what was seen in CBS' cgi model in their remastered versions of the original episodes in TOS-R. The Enterprise in STC looks like a really cleaned up version of the original vfx--I often found it stunning.
In terms of casting I think it was a mixed bag ranging from quite good to okay. I say this with the consideration you have to give yourself a chance to get used to the new cast in the familiar roles because they would never replace the original cast with which we have been familiar for so long. Because TOS has been in constant circulation since its original run the original cast has, in a sense, remained forever young in our eyes wherein we don't have to rely on faded memories of a long defunct television series. Also, in fairness, to the new cast, they didn't really try to fully imitate their predecessors, but rather channeled some of the original cast's performances within their own portrayals. I think this worked to reasonable effect as it makes it easier to accept the new cast on their own terms rather than seeing them as mere imitators.
The cast was also helped by usually decent writing that helps the cast sound like the original characters. It often isn't hard to imagine the original cast saying these new lines because it usually suited their respective characters.
Guest and new characters were usually rather strong in STC, not surprising given a lot of them were professional actors in their own right with established credentials.
All the stories, all eleven episodes, were generally well told regardless of what I thought of individual stories. Indeed I didn't find any of the episodes to be so cringe inducing or disappointmenting to the degree I found a few of the original series episodes. They largely fit within the context of the original series as live-action. If anything contemporary resources allowed STC to do some things that could have been done back in the day only if they had had a bit more time and money, or in some cases a bit more daring to challenge connection. Essentially STC did some things that not only could have been done in TOS, but actually should have done. And maybe they might have done some of those things if TOS had had perhaps one more full season in its run.
Cons:
My biggest overall criticism of STC is where I felt they lost sight of what they seemed to be trying to do. This made itself apparent in a few ways--some quite subtle and difficult to guard against and some quite blatant that could have been easily avoided with some smart editing. In fairness the latter comes done to what the overall intent of the series was.
If you are trying to create stories in the vein of the original series and you want it to feel as authentic as you can make it then you have to strive to put yourself into the mindset of the original creators. To that end you really should try to ignore whatever came after the original series to avoid injecting anything the original creators would never have been aware of or could never even imagine. Inserting overt references and callouts to later productions undermines striving for a sense of authenticity as those things did not yet exist and couldn't have been imagined back in the day. I know a lot of fans like the "fan service" of callouts and trying to tie everything together, but it does lessen the suspension of disbelief that the show was done today rather than 1969. I know also many fans, no matter how professional they strive to be, can't seem to resist showing off how well versed they are in Star Trek lore. Some viewers won't be put off by this fan service while others, such as myself, find it disappointing.
Another way of undermining the sense of authenticity is doing stories that never would have been done originally in TOS. In STC there are a couple of stories that obviously wanted to address something that TOS never would have done. That's isn't to say the stories themselves were poorly done, quite the contrary, but they were story ideas that never would have occurred to the original creators. To that end they feel like pure fan-fiction albeit very polished fan-fiction. They are, in effect, indulgences, but nonetheless feel somewhat out of place for something trying to look like it was done immediately following the original three seasons of TOS. Again some fans won't have an issue with this while some might.
In terms of storytelling there were times it felt like STC was writing stories more in the vein of TNG rather than TOS. This showed itself in terms of contemporary perspectives in the writing that simply wouldn't have been there back in the day.
My final issue, which is really more of a nitpick, is in regards to the overall perspective or mindset of STC's creators. And what I'm talking about can sometimes be difficult to avoid.
The creators of STC were not producing a show with a 1960's perspective. They were making something with an early 21st century perspective and influenced by their knowledge of all that has happened since 1969. This made itself apparent in how some of the dialogue for the characters was written and the injecting of 21st century social perspectives that simply wouldn't have been on the radar of the original series creators. It could even be seen in the insertion of more contemporary Trek technobabble that simply wouldn't have existed back in the day as TOS had its own style of (limited) technobabble. References to things like "nannites" and "resonant frequency" and other contemporary Trek technical terms really stick out for something trying to recreate a production where such terms would never have been used.
That's it. And so tomorrow I'll do my first rewatch of the first STC episode "Pilgrim Of Eternity."
Stay tuned...
It's been quite awhile since I've done a Star Trek series rewatch and I still plan to do that, but recently I've had the urge to do a slightly different rewatch by revisiting a series that purported to springboard from the third season of TOS as a (greatly) abbreviated fourth and fifth season: Star Trek Continues.
Several years ago I was initially quite a fan of STC as it felt (to me) the most authentic and faithful of fan productions. The premise was to give us further adventures of our heroes aboard the Enterprise as if they had been produced in 1969/70. To a very large extent they did that. Anyone watching STC could almost swear it was filmed back in the day with the major exception of a wholly new cast playing the familiar characters as well as introducing a couple of new ones.
STC did a lot of things I liked and applauded and some things I had issue with which I felt undermined its overall intent. Some of those issues would be very difficult to avoid while others could have been fixed with some editing of the script.
I would rather evaluate the episodes on an individual basis where my criticisms, whatever they might be, are in regard to the story and storytelling itself rather than whatever overall issues I might have with the series. So allow me to get those out of the way first.
Pros:
In terms of production the series looks fantastic and even professional. Rarely does it look like it was made "on the cheap." Indeed I can think of only one instance where it looked "off" and it's not really bad in the sense I think very few might even notice. Contemporary production resources make it possible to recreate the look of the original series possibly much more easily than it was done originally in the 1960s. Filming the series in the old-school 4:3 aspect ratio also lends it a more authentic look rather than using the contemporary 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. The series also usually excelled in terms of vfx except on rare occasion when something looked a bit too contemporary and making it look out of place for something that was supposed to look like it was made in 1969/70. The vfx of the Enterprise in particular is outstanding, not surprising given Doug Drexler had a hand in bringing the Enterprise to life in STC. The result is a cgi model that looks far superior to what was seen in CBS' cgi model in their remastered versions of the original episodes in TOS-R. The Enterprise in STC looks like a really cleaned up version of the original vfx--I often found it stunning.
In terms of casting I think it was a mixed bag ranging from quite good to okay. I say this with the consideration you have to give yourself a chance to get used to the new cast in the familiar roles because they would never replace the original cast with which we have been familiar for so long. Because TOS has been in constant circulation since its original run the original cast has, in a sense, remained forever young in our eyes wherein we don't have to rely on faded memories of a long defunct television series. Also, in fairness, to the new cast, they didn't really try to fully imitate their predecessors, but rather channeled some of the original cast's performances within their own portrayals. I think this worked to reasonable effect as it makes it easier to accept the new cast on their own terms rather than seeing them as mere imitators.
The cast was also helped by usually decent writing that helps the cast sound like the original characters. It often isn't hard to imagine the original cast saying these new lines because it usually suited their respective characters.
Guest and new characters were usually rather strong in STC, not surprising given a lot of them were professional actors in their own right with established credentials.
All the stories, all eleven episodes, were generally well told regardless of what I thought of individual stories. Indeed I didn't find any of the episodes to be so cringe inducing or disappointmenting to the degree I found a few of the original series episodes. They largely fit within the context of the original series as live-action. If anything contemporary resources allowed STC to do some things that could have been done back in the day only if they had had a bit more time and money, or in some cases a bit more daring to challenge connection. Essentially STC did some things that not only could have been done in TOS, but actually should have done. And maybe they might have done some of those things if TOS had had perhaps one more full season in its run.
Cons:
My biggest overall criticism of STC is where I felt they lost sight of what they seemed to be trying to do. This made itself apparent in a few ways--some quite subtle and difficult to guard against and some quite blatant that could have been easily avoided with some smart editing. In fairness the latter comes done to what the overall intent of the series was.
If you are trying to create stories in the vein of the original series and you want it to feel as authentic as you can make it then you have to strive to put yourself into the mindset of the original creators. To that end you really should try to ignore whatever came after the original series to avoid injecting anything the original creators would never have been aware of or could never even imagine. Inserting overt references and callouts to later productions undermines striving for a sense of authenticity as those things did not yet exist and couldn't have been imagined back in the day. I know a lot of fans like the "fan service" of callouts and trying to tie everything together, but it does lessen the suspension of disbelief that the show was done today rather than 1969. I know also many fans, no matter how professional they strive to be, can't seem to resist showing off how well versed they are in Star Trek lore. Some viewers won't be put off by this fan service while others, such as myself, find it disappointing.
Another way of undermining the sense of authenticity is doing stories that never would have been done originally in TOS. In STC there are a couple of stories that obviously wanted to address something that TOS never would have done. That's isn't to say the stories themselves were poorly done, quite the contrary, but they were story ideas that never would have occurred to the original creators. To that end they feel like pure fan-fiction albeit very polished fan-fiction. They are, in effect, indulgences, but nonetheless feel somewhat out of place for something trying to look like it was done immediately following the original three seasons of TOS. Again some fans won't have an issue with this while some might.
In terms of storytelling there were times it felt like STC was writing stories more in the vein of TNG rather than TOS. This showed itself in terms of contemporary perspectives in the writing that simply wouldn't have been there back in the day.
My final issue, which is really more of a nitpick, is in regards to the overall perspective or mindset of STC's creators. And what I'm talking about can sometimes be difficult to avoid.
The creators of STC were not producing a show with a 1960's perspective. They were making something with an early 21st century perspective and influenced by their knowledge of all that has happened since 1969. This made itself apparent in how some of the dialogue for the characters was written and the injecting of 21st century social perspectives that simply wouldn't have been on the radar of the original series creators. It could even be seen in the insertion of more contemporary Trek technobabble that simply wouldn't have existed back in the day as TOS had its own style of (limited) technobabble. References to things like "nannites" and "resonant frequency" and other contemporary Trek technical terms really stick out for something trying to recreate a production where such terms would never have been used.
That's it. And so tomorrow I'll do my first rewatch of the first STC episode "Pilgrim Of Eternity."
Stay tuned...
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I found myself quite liking Larry Nemecek as McCoy. Vic Mignogna as Kirk really won me over.
