Spoilers Strange New Worlds General Discussion Thread
- Thread starter NewHeavensNewEarth
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It's been incredibly difficult for DSC and PIC to really explore the new supporting characters with the serialized format. They spend so much time with the plot, there's few chances for good scenes to build characterization and make the audience actually care about them - which is why I didn't buy the forced emotion over Airiam's death or Rios and Jurati suddenly making googly eyes at each other. Taking the episodic route should give SNW opportunities to do this without having to spend every minute on plot. Might even have the ability to have cold opens with the characters socializing like TNG did with poker games, and DS9 did with Vic's/Quark's.
I'll pay my tithe to the coin jar, but this is basically what The Orville does. Standalone adventure of the week episodes, with character arcs that progress over the course of the season.
The problem isn't the format. It's the writing.
Some (most?) of the best supplementary characters in TV history were on serialized shows. Heck, look at DS9. I don't think it would have had the supporting cast it did if it had been purely episodic, in fact most of the shows purely stand-alone episodes were main character focused.
I like the idea, but Discovery hasn’t done “emotional serialization” very well. Burnham is pitched too high, while Culber and Stamets still barely exist as characters. Even “Picard” skated by on our pre-existing fondness for the TNG crew. Hope the new show manages it better. Maybe the episodic format will help.
I'm guessing I'm hella late to this but Bounding into Comics is citing an anonymous 4chan poster (lmao) in a report that Strange New Worlds has been cancelled already and the "ten broken stories" were nothing but titles.
I hope I don't need to specify here, but just in case -- I don't buy it at all. But a buddy of mine linked it to me and oof.
I hope I don't need to specify here, but just in case -- I don't buy it at all. But a buddy of mine linked it to me and oof.
At this pace, it's a minor miracle the catastrophic series isn't cancelling the entire television industry alongside it.
DS9 had the added benefit of 26-episode seasons to allow the stories and characters room to breathe. With the current paradigm of 10-13 episodes a season, I don't think DS9 could've developed their rich tapestry of supporting characters in the same way.
I miss those days, and those shows.
Remember these are the same guys who claim Alex Kurtzman's been fired but somehow CBS lets him stay on the lot (and do conventions and press junkets) because no one wants to tell him.
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Too bad I didn't have that fondness.
At this rate Alex has enough pink slips to start a lingerie store.Remember these are the same guys who claim Alex Kurtzman's been fired but somehow CBS lets him stay on the lot (and do conventions and press junkets) because no one wants to tell him.
I think SNW needs to stay the fuck away from heavy serialisation, I got to agree with what people say about Discovery and Picard, I enjoy Picard but the overall storyline wasn't stellar. Not to mention, another pitfall SNW needs to stay away from is universe ending scenarios every season, we were promised Picard would be smaller scale and still ended with a potential threat to the entire universe IN THE FIRST SEASON! There is such a thing as escalation.
I don't mind light serialisation like DS9 or early 2005 Doctor Who.
I don't mind light serialisation like DS9 or early 2005 Doctor Who.
I read somewhere that SNW does plan to stay away from elaborate story arcs and function on a more TOS-like episodic model, while still having - what did they say - something like "spiritual serialization" of the characters, which I take to mean no reset buttons for the characters. What happens in the shows makes a lasting impact which informs their decisions and behaviors in later episodes, providing substantive character growth, but without the massively elaborate arcs we've seen from the likes of DS9, ENT and DISCO. Could be a nice change of pace.
That's the one! 
I know, just brainstorming
Otherwise known as dumbing it down, like SF was more like before stargate, buffy, B5, BSG reset, etc...
Episodic is in no way automatically dumber than serialized. No more so than poetry or short stories are dumber than novellas or novels. They're different types of storytelling for different types of stories. Preferring one over the other is totally valid and entirely subjective to you.
Me, personally, I'd rather we have all types available. And if I absolutely had to pick one and only one style to keep, it would be the Buffy style, which contrary to your implication above, is actually very different to B5, BSG, etc and pretty much straddles the line between episodic and serialized almost exactly halfway.
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