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Seth Macfarlane Should Helm the Next Trek Series

Perhaps more influence than a coincidence. MacFarlane was 19 when "Cause and Effect" first aired.
 
I'm sure he didn't have the episode in mind when he drove his running gags into the ground and beyond. When CAUSE first aired, and the Enterprise exploded for four commercial breaks in a row, I felt I'd had enough. It was unintentionally funny at the same time. (Maybe EDGE OF TOMORROW with Tom Cruise will end up with similar moments.)

Anyway, when McFarlane inflicted his endless Peter laughing and Chris screeching ad infinitum, it made me think of the TNG episode. Neither were clip shows, but extra filler.
 
I wonder: did this article get discussed on TrekBBS? I go back and forth on thinking there's some truth to it and... not.

I actually found this, from another article on that site, more to the point:

These days you just accept that the star isn't driving the car, flying the plane, jumping out of the helicopter, whatever the film suggests. They're living in the very life threatening world of being in the proximity of a green-screen, and that's how close to reality the studio wants.
It's not just special effects - even casual viewers are so much more sophisticated about the entertainment industry and how entertainment is produced that they assume nothing is real - and they're pretty much right. A lot of folks used to go to the movies without thinking about whether it was John Wayne riding that horse through the middle of stampede in long shot rather than a stuntman paid to take the risk, they just assumed that it was him.

I think Tom Cruise is not just crazy, but canny in doing his own stunt work like hanging outside a skyscraper window hundreds of feet in the air. To the extent that people are aware of that kind of thing it helps sell the movie.
 
Seth is a genius. Trek would be lucky to have him

I don't think he is a genius, I mean, it's very clever how he somehow managed to not only rip-off the Simpsons but then rip-off his own rip-off two more times and somehow be successful at it.

That said, it's clear he's super-passionate about Trek (I saw a great episode of Real Time with Bill Maher where he quoted a Kirk speech, verbatim, in the Kirk voice- it was hilarious), that he's a good producer and the success of Cosmos (with Braga!) shows that there is an audience out there for good sci-fi. I'd have absolutely no problem if he pitched for Trek and started making a show, I think he'd do great at it, and I like to think he has enough respect for Trek that he'd stay true to it's vision, rather than trying to throw in all the rape-jokes that make Family Guy so "hilarious".
 
I'm sure he didn't have the episode in mind when he drove his running gags into the ground and beyond. When CAUSE first aired, and the Enterprise exploded for four commercial breaks in a row, I felt I'd had enough. It was unintentionally funny at the same time.
Groundhog Day.
 
I wonder: did this article get discussed on TrekBBS? I go back and forth on thinking there's some truth to it and... not.

I actually found this, from another article on that site, more to the point:

These days you just accept that the star isn't driving the car, flying the plane, jumping out of the helicopter, whatever the film suggests. They're living in the very life threatening world of being in the proximity of a green-screen, and that's how close to reality the studio wants.
It's not just special effects - even casual viewers are so much more sophisticated about the entertainment industry and how entertainment is produced that they assume nothing is real - and they're pretty much right. A lot of folks used to go to the movies without thinking about whether it was John Wayne riding that horse through the middle of stampede in long shot rather than a stuntman paid to take the risk, they just assumed that it was him.

I think Tom Cruise is not just crazy, but canny in doing his own stunt work like hanging outside a skyscraper window hundreds of feet in the air. To the extent that people are aware of that kind of thing it helps sell the movie.
I refer you to 71-year-old Harrison Ford today.
 
I wonder: did this article get discussed on TrekBBS? I go back and forth on thinking there's some truth to it and... not.

I actually found this, from another article on that site, more to the point:

These days you just accept that the star isn't driving the car, flying the plane, jumping out of the helicopter, whatever the film suggests. They're living in the very life threatening world of being in the proximity of a green-screen, and that's how close to reality the studio wants.
It's not just special effects - even casual viewers are so much more sophisticated about the entertainment industry and how entertainment is produced that they assume nothing is real - and they're pretty much right. A lot of folks used to go to the movies without thinking about whether it was John Wayne riding that horse through the middle of stampede in long shot rather than a stuntman paid to take the risk, they just assumed that it was him.

I think Tom Cruise is not just crazy, but canny in doing his own stunt work like hanging outside a skyscraper window hundreds of feet in the air. To the extent that people are aware of that kind of thing it helps sell the movie.

Cruise continually is alleged to do his own stunts. Jackie Chan wanted to after RUSH HOUR cemented his U.S. stardom, but the American studios stopped letting him. Michael Caine in ''Acting on Film'' famously wrote that high-paid huge movie stars doing their own stunts was never to be believed. In this age of CGI and stunt doubles, what point would here be for Cruise to risk his life for any visual stunt?

PREMIERE magazine claimed that Cruise was even willing to risk permanent paralysis with an experiental drug while making BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, in a misguided attempt at method acting. I don't believe that for a minute either. Any star can claim to do their stunts. But it usually seems to be Cruise.
 
MacFarlane would be great on a Star Trek TV series. He did just produce the new Cosmos...
 
I was underwhelmed at his new film. I'm retitling it SEVEN WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST as it matches its actual plot. The movie was basically taking FAMILY GUY approaches to live-action, with much less success. If Liam Neeson had been allowed to be funny, it might have worked better.
 
All this is why I just let my imagination run wild when watching modern sci-fi/action movies. I watch at the primal level of simply wanting to enjoy a movie.

As a wannabe CG movie maker, I'll deconstruct the movie later.
 
It can be irritating reading through a 90-day-old thread like this one because I find myself wanting to respond to things that were written eight weeks ago. Commenting on those items now would make me feel like George Costanza, saving up a half-assed retort that only came to him hours after the initial barb.

At any rate, I am personally on board with Seth Macfarlane pushing a new Star Trek series through, should he have both the inclination and opportunity. I respect his overall talent and can't help but notice his fondness/knowledge of the Star Trek franchise.

As Kautilya said, "Me likey a liker of mine likes."

Jerk Store's the line.
 
TNG style of writing?

Pass.

Sleep inducement is not why I want to watch television.

Not really sure exactly what he means by "TNG style writing", but nearly all prime time weekly series nowadays have a week-to-week style. Something that DS9 started when they introduced The Dominion War.

Week-to-week is more of continuing story rather than each episode being written in such a way that you could watch the episodes in any order.

So, if he means that the episodes are all self contained.. then I'd have to say no to that too.

I can't see anybody ever doing another Star Trek series in which all the episodes were self contained and could be watched in any order. Especially nowadays when you have a variety of online sources to watch weekly series on demand.
 
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