I never cared for Top Gun either. In fact, I still haven't seen the sequel.
Starfleet Academy & Robert Picardo: I have a theory...
- Thread starter Admiral Jean-Luc Picard
- Start date
It's not always, and it depends on contact. If you're doing a drama about teens and 20-somethings, no one's going to complain, because that's what the show is intended to be from the word go. Take Roswell (1999), most people all it Dawson's Creek meets TXF, and well... that's what it is.
People watch Star Trek for space adventure, futurism, deep and complicated ethical situations with no clear answer, deeply emotional drama that can easily and sometimes does end in tragedy, and you get the idea. Trekkies are accustomed to the cast being the 30's / 40's / 50's crowd mostly with a few young people thrown in. Most people are turned off by the idea of a Star Trek series where the cast are likely to be 18 to mid 20's, where the "Captain" is replaced with a school teacher, and where the biggest drama is who's dating who, and OMG, will I pass my math test?
Man, no one wanted to go to a space academy as a kid.
I didn't.
Well, I guess that's just my thing.I didn't.
I'll be the one Academy nut actually excited for a show about something I've wanted since I was 10 over. I got a Pike show and now an Academy show.
Well, some things do go right for me occasionally.
The only thing I've wanted from Star Trek is to remain entertaining and not go off the air.Well, I guess that's just my thing.
I'll be the one Academy nut actually excited for a show about something I've wanted since I was 10 over. I got a Pike show and now an Academy show.
Well, some things do go right for me occasionally.
I was very sad in 2005, very happy in 2009, "meh" toward Discovery in 2017, but got excited about Streaming Trek in 2020 when Picard premiered.
My "meh" reaction to Discovery was mostly over it being behind a paywall as I already had Netflix and didn't see why I should pay for another streamer. Granted, this was 2017. Once Picard was announced, I was like, screw it, I'll watch Streaming Trek.
I want entertainment.The only thing I've wanted from Star Trek is to remain entertaining and not go off the air.
I was very sad in 2005, very happy in 2009, "meh" toward Discovery in 2017, but got excited about Streaming Trek in 2020 when Picard premiered.
If it goes off the air then c'est le vie. It's still entertaining.
I edited my above post to clarify my thoughts on Discovery.
And do you think a show with college age characters can't do that? I'm not overly familiar with 90210, I can probably count the number of times I watched it on one hand with enough fingers left over to make the Vulcan salute. But in looking at the wiki I see it tackled the following
So it would appear to have done "complicated ethical situations" and "deeply emotional drama that can easily and sometimes does end in tragedy,".
Most Trek, especially TOS and TNG, ended with our heroes having clear answers for complicated ethical situations, including a pontificating and patronizing speech from Kirk or Picard.
The ones that didn't stand out for that very reason. Trek's plots, while including "space adventure" and "futurism", were rarely about that. They were about people in relationships and conflict. And yes romance.
What does it matter what age the cast is? I've watched Harry Potter, Stranger Things and other projects with younger casts with out being bothered. I watched a show called "The Paper Chase" back in the 80s that was set at a law school. Movies like Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society have been well received and reviewed. If its well written and acted where is the problem?
I never watched, but I'm aware of it through pop culture and the internet. It's the kind of show I'd turn off 5 minutes in to tuning in.
sex, date rape, homophobia, animal rights, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, eating disorders, racism (including antisemitism), teenage suicide, teenage pregnancy, and AIDS.
Can we not do this on Star Trek? This reads like Shameless.
By episode's end, sure, but you know I wasn't talking about endings.Most Trek, especially TOS and TNG, ended with our heroes having clear answers for complicated ethical situations, including a pontificating and patronizing speech from Kirk or Picard.
While having space adventures in a futurism context.
You've oversimplified to the point of losing my point. Age matters in regard to what kind of story you're telling. I want to watch Star Trek starring adults, not college kids.
They've been done in some manner before. Star Trek is about the human adventure not the human space adventure.
Indeed. Such themes are what Roddenberry wanted Star Trek to explore, often through allegory to get it past the censors.
That's usually where we get the answer to the complicated ethical situations explored in the episode.
Well yeah, that why I included "space adventure" and "futurism" in that sentence.
What difference does it make if Cadet Jones saves the day or Captain Jones saves the day? Heroes gonna hero. I think just about any Star Trek plot could be rewritten with cadets and instructors replacing the crew and not loose a step.
Cadet Jones isn't saving the day, he's gonna be worried about his girlfriend and studying for his exams. LAME!
Star Trek is science-fiction, not a day-time soap for moms to watch while the kids are at school.
Science fiction involves humans and the drama that it brings.
Never mind the absurd stereotype around soap operas.
My bottom line is, I want story-driven plots, not college kids worrying about exams and girlfriends.
Go for it.
I want an Academy series. I've seen good stuff in various mediums of such an idea. Even in JAG with a Midshipman law class. I'm all in on this concept and am wary to dismiss out of hand just because of potential college age stories. Last I checked, I was in college once and enjoyed stories there too.
Did you watch Roswell, the 1999 series? It's like the "one" teen drama I like, mostly because of the "aliens among us" concept, I just really dug that, and the cast were just really likable. The show was this weird hybrid of teen drama and The X Files mashed up together. I was sad there was no crossover. Both were 20th Century Fox productions, TXF on Fox, Roswell on The WB and later UPN. I'd have loved it if one cast guest starred on the other. Imagine an episode of TXF where the agents go to Roswell, run into "the gang" and never find out some of them are aliens. Alternatively, a Roswell episode where TXF agents show up, and the gang has to basically ensure they don't find anything and leave. Anyway...
The point is, though a teen drama, when it wanted to be story drive, it was TXF levels of awesome sauce. I'm gonna give this show a shot, but only because Robert Picardo. Maybe it will be good and I will stick around.
Nope.
Zero interest.
Picardo is one strike for me against it but I'm hoping for something interesting with the cadets, with tht Captain and Giamatti's character.The point is, though a teen drama, when it wanted to be story drive, it was TXF levels of awesome sauce. I'm gonna give this show a shot, but only because Robert Picardo. Maybe it will be good and I will stick around.
Give the pilot episode a shot. You might like it, and if not, you can at least say you tried it. I'm always down to give a show a show's opening episode a shot, try something new.
No love for Picardo?
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