Spoilers Starfleet Academy General Discussion Thread

[Tosk]

Meh, I'm probably the only person who doesn't care if Living Witness is ever followed up on or not.

I'd normally be all for a follow-up, but in this case I agree with you. I have zero confidence a "youngified" Picardo could be pulled off in a way that would not be distracting or downright poor. Look at what they did to poor Data in PIC.

On top of that, my reaction to their Sisko ep was of the negative variety. So I wouldn't be confident on the writing side as well as the VFX side.

 

[Fateor]

According to Robert Picardo on this week's The D-Con Chamber we were probably going to get the "Living Witness" EMH in Season 3 and Picardo had worked out a story for the producers. Now we won't get that. Sigh.

Could have been a great story, but it also highlights one of the things that were wrong with Academy.

Because shows with 10 episode seasons dont have time to focus on what should be secondary characters.

 

[Tallguy]

Look at what they did to poor Data in PIC.

I realize that we're talking TV Budget vs. Movie Budget but Younger Data looked worse that even Younger Flynn in Tron: Legacy. And even run of the mill de-aging has grown in leaps and bounds since then.

Normally I say "Cast a younger actor like in the olden times" but there are times (like this one) where it HAS to be the real person.

(I haven't seen Living Witness. I'm actually very happy I got to see some terrific episodes with Picardo on SFA without it being "fan service" for me.)

 

[Elaise]

According to Robert Picardo on this week's The D-Con Chamber we were probably going to get the "Living Witness" EMH in Season 3 and Picardo had worked out a story for the producers. Now we won't get that. Sigh.

Another point in that podcast. Alex team got the crew together to let them know the show was cancelled. He said it happened because nobody was watching it, and it never cracked the top ten. I wonder what metrics they were using for that last part. Because on the website I would see it there every week in the top 10.

I'm not sure how you follow up on that episode. I cannot think of anything interesting that they could do because of it. The crew he cleared the names for is long dead and nobody outside the doctors knows or even cares. Still, when I think back to my favorite voyager episodes that is at the top of the list, I just love it.

 

[Mudd]

I realize that we're talking TV Budget vs. Movie Budget but Younger Data looked worse that even Younger Flynn in Tron: Legacy. And even run of the mill de-aging has grown in leaps and bounds since then.

Normally I say "Cast a younger actor like in the olden times" but there are times (like this one) where it HAS to be the real person.

(I haven't seen Living Witness. I'm actually very happy I got to see some terrific episodes with Picardo on SFA without it being "fan service" for me.)

They'd use AI for Picardo now.

 

[Tosk]

I'm not sure how you follow up on that episode. I cannot think of anything interesting that they could do because of it. The crew he cleared the names for is long dead and nobody outside the doctors knows or even cares. Still, when I think back to my favorite voyager episodes that is at the top of the list, I just love it.

I would be most interested in a story that explores/utilizes the presumably vast differences between the two Doctors from having lived very different lives over the centuries. (Eight vs one.)

The kind of episode I doubt they would have done.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Will Riker vs Thomas Riker, times 100?

 

[Detached Nacelle]

If they'd saved a sam malfunction story then the back up doctor could have sacrificed himself in the same way the diagnostic program did and the story would have had a purpose for two doctors.

I wonder what kind of story could have been built in the stolen season three that would have utilised having two of them. The only way it'll exist now is if I come up with it myself.

 

[Michael]

I think an interesting angle for such an episode (and probably the most obvious one) would have been to compare and contrast a younger version of the Doctor with a much older one. I’m sure the 100 year old backup does have certain notions about where he sees himself a millennium into the future, and I would be surprised if they perfectly align with the way the 1000 year old original is living his life. It’s a bit like meeting yourself when you were a young and ambitious adolescent whose future was full of opportunity, and having to justify yourself for your life choices.

This being Robert Picardo I’m also sure it would just have been a wonderful vehicle for his comedy talents, and it would have been hilarious to see him craft two versions of the same character.

 

[tenmei]

"A Comedy of Photons"

 

[Noname Given]

I'd normally be all for a follow-up, but in this case I agree with you. I have zero confidence a "youngified" Picardo could be pulled off in a way that would not be distracting or downright poor. Look at what they did to poor Data in PIC.

On top of that, my reaction to their Sisko ep was of the negative variety. So I wouldn't be confident on the writing side as well as the VFX side.

Hon westly, it probably would have been better if the EMH WAS the Doctor from VOY's Living Witness and they did an episode around about his return for the SFA show.

And yes, I too was not that impressed with the DS9 episode in that IN DS9 Sisko said he'd return one day (and he meant in actual interactive form, but as this episode makes clear he didn't - and Jake was left coming up with the metaphysical belief that "Actually, he did..."

One of my huge issue with SFA and the way they treated the 32nd century history in general was:

The 23rd and 24th centuries (900 & 800 years earlier) has ALL the people they talked about for the most part. They had ONE episode that featured a ship and crew from just after the Burn but all through ST: D S3 - S5 and SFA, a majority of history were ship names from the 23rd and 24th centuries; officers from the 23rd & 24th centuries, and ISSUES that were created in the 24th century.

IF the Burn occurred in the 25th century I could understand it to a point, but no, that happened in the 31st century. In 800 years, they NEVER had more near contemporary ships/officers to hold up as Paragons for the new cadets? Spare me.

 

[Michael]

Hon westly, it probably would have been better if the EMH WAS the Doctor from VOY's Living Witness and they did an episode around about his return for the SFA show.

Why would it have been better to have the Doctor be the backup from “Living Witness”?

 

[tenmei]

Why would it have been better to have the Doctor be the backup from “Living Witness”?

I guess it would effectively give the same character but not have the baggage of Prodigy etc

 

[Noname Given]

Why would it have been better to have the Doctor be the backup from “Living Witness”?

Essentially a new character from the contemporary 32nd century with some ties to the 'original Hologram. Could have seen things contemporary Starfleet had no real knowledge of.

 

[Michael]

I guess it would effectively give the same character but not have the baggage of Prodigy etc

I must admit that I haven’t yet come around to sitting down and watching season two of Prodigy, so I have no idea what sort of baggage one wouldn’t his character to have in Starfleet Academy.

Essentially a new character from the contemporary 32nd century with some ties to the 'original Hologram. Could have seen things contemporary Starfleet had no real knowledge of.

Hm, I don’t really see how that would make him different or more interesting necessarily. I mean, the original Doctor is also a “contemporary 32nd century character”. He’s just long-lived. And when we see him again in Starfleet Academy we haven’t checked in with him for 900 years, so there could be lots of things he’s seen that contemporary Starfleet has no knowledge of.

I’m sorry, I just don’t see anything that convinces me it would have been better to have the version from “Living Witness”. If anything, this might have added confusion for more casual viewers, who would understandably just assume he’s the Doctor we’ve seen seven seasons on Voyager.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

The 23rd and 24th centuries (900 & 800 years earlier) has ALL the people they talked about for the most part. They had ONE episode that featured a ship and crew from just after the Burn but all through ST: D S3 - S5 and SFA, a majority of history were ship names from the 23rd and 24th centuries; officers from the 23rd & 24th centuries, and ISSUES that were created in the 24th century.

IF the Burn occurred in the 25th century I could understand it to a point, but no, that happened in the 31st century. In 800 years, they NEVER had more near contemporary ships/officers to hold up as Paragons for the new cadets? Spare me.

I understand this as a criticism but unfortunately it's simply a problem of it being an entertainment product. It has to harken back to what viewers are familiar with and name drop things they know. While it would certainly make sense for them to be all like "oh yes that's the USS Edelsbacher named after the famous 27th century captain who negotiated the peace treaty with the Voth" or whatever the problem is if you make too many references to a history people haven't seen then they seem to feel like the product is too disconnected and will come out screeching that it's not canon because it references a time period we didnt even see in the other shows.

I mean the Gideon Turner stuff was sort of an attempt at something that is common historical knowledge for the 32nd century but beyond anything we've seen and sure they could have strove for more of a balance but when you're going for mass appeal you sometimes have to pander a little.

Sometimes you pander too much and end up with Picard season 3 levels of schlock.