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Spoilers The Strange New Worlds Starship Thread™

Yeah, I get that, but does that really matter? I think all the shows have their own quite distinct flavour and visual design.

TNG, DS9 and VOY did overlap of course. Ultimately a more casual viewer will probably think it all looks like Star Trek, which is fine.
Exactly. Those who are in to it will know the difference and those who don't probably won't care, so long as they are sufficiently entertained.
 
While I'm looking forward to SNW, my issue with it (and DSC before it) is that making a Star Trek show in 2017-22 that takes place in the mid-23rd century, and giving it a more modern update from what we saw in '60's TOS, creates a problem where the technology is really no different from a Trek series (like PIC) that takes place in the 25th century. So now you have two separate Trek shows taking place 150 years apart, but technologically, visually, and story/plot-wise, it all looks exactly the same. If someone who had never seen a Star Trek show in their life were to watch an episode of both SNW and PIC, they'd be hard-pressed to be able to tell what time period each show is set in, other than such things as 'one crew wears a different uniform than the other crew does.'
That's not a bug, it's a feature.
 
Is this really a problem?

To a new/casual viewer (which I'm assuming CBS is trying to cater to just as much as the people who were already Trek fans), it would appear that technology hasn't advanced one bit in 150 years. Whether that matters to a new/casual viewer, I don't know. You'd have to ask them. To me, it's pretty unrealistic. But then again, none of this is real anyway.

That's not a bug, it's a feature.

Well there's a nonsequitor if ever I've heard one.
 
That was my point. Why bother making a prequel to TOS when it ends up looking like it could take place centuries later? If you’re going to do that, why not just make a show that picks up right where the TNG era left off?
 
That was my point. Why bother making a prequel to TOS when it ends up looking like it could take place centuries later? If you’re going to do that, why not just make a show that picks up right where the TNG era left off?
You don't get to mine TOS. And mining TOS is what they want to do. Some day they will mine TNG. Probably sooner than later.
 
Is this really a problem? I wouldn't say the tech in TNG was demonstrably greater than in TOS. It was still phasers, photon torpedoes, warp speed, transporters and tricorders.

The only thing that matters from a story perspective is the tech relative to the antagonist of the week.

It's exactly the same for Disco. Even in the 32nd century their technology isn't really that different to any other Trek show. It's still ships going from planet to planet having adventures.
Exactly so.
 
That was my point. Why bother making a prequel to TOS when it ends up looking like it could take place centuries later? If you’re going to do that, why not just make a show that picks up right where the TNG era left off?
Because it's Pike and Spock on the Enterprise, no bloody A, B, C or D.
 
Guys, nothing on Star Trek is ever going to look more like TOS again than the show we're getting in four weeks or so.

And when Kirk assumes command of the Enterprise and the story continues onscreen for however long, it will be this very ship.
 
What I mean is no other starship stuck with the flimsy looking neck or pylons. The moment we got to the movies both those things were made sturdier.
The Excelsior seems to have fairly small pylons (for the Excelsior for the size of its nacelle's are probably very similar proportional size to 1701 (TOS). And the Centaur seem's rather flimsy for how long they are.

Roughly twice as long nacelles, and the pylons are roughly twice as wide, so seems a far comparison to me.

The neck on the other hand..........
 
While I'm looking forward to SNW, my issue with it (and DSC before it) is that making a Star Trek show in 2017-22 that takes place in the mid-23rd century, and giving it a more modern update from what we saw in '60's TOS, creates a problem where the technology is really no different from a Trek series (like PIC) that takes place in the 25th century. So now you have two separate Trek shows taking place 150 years apart, but technologically, visually, and story/plot-wise, it all looks exactly the same. If someone who had never seen a Star Trek show in their life were to watch an episode of both SNW and PIC, they'd be hard-pressed to be able to tell what time period each show is set in, other than such things as 'one crew wears a different uniform than the other crew does.'
FOr a complete casual viewer that might be true, but for the most part its not important. What's important is something catching the eye of a casual viewer and making them want to watch more. Its not until a completely new casual fan actually starts paying attention that would make them realize the world is larger then what they might have assumed on first glance. And for many people with science fiction (especially those who aren't naturally drawn to it) that's actually a good thing. As for many newcomers the idea of seeing a big universe of material can be very off-putting. God knows most of my very casual sci-fi fans that I know really had to be hand held watching the Expanse long enough for them to want to continue with the program and so much of that was because of the lack of science fantasy troupe that things like Trek, Wars, Galactica have.
 
That was my point. Why bother making a prequel to TOS when it ends up looking like it could take place centuries later? If you’re going to do that, why not just make a show that picks up right where the TNG era left off?
Because while the technology may be similar; the characters and the underlying political situation for stories is very different.

In the 23rd Century characters still act like actual human beings and argue with each other, have disagreements, but in the end they work together to get what needs to be done to accomplish the goal of the episode. Also in this era the prime directive is executed differently in that if a planet has been contacted by extraterrestrial species, and has something the Federation needs; the Federation will initiate contact regardless of the planet's technological level.

Also they aren't as judgmental when it comes to a planet's society. If the planet decides to implement the death penalty or other harsh sentences for crimes, or even engage in forms of slavery; the Federation stance is their world is theirs.

In the TNG and later eras; Starfleet is dominated by characters who honestly rarely disagree and join in groupthink. It makes them very boring and overly preachy at times. Also the prime directive in the 24th century and beyond basically has the Federation staying out of contact with any world that isn't already a member of the Federation no. (Yeah I don't get how that works either but honestly that's how the prime directive seems to work in the 24th century.)

Picard is a prime example of this philosophy. Anytime Worf does something that is absolutely accepted by Klingon Society, like killing Duras after Duras killed his mate; Picard even says outright that the Klingons consider the matter closed, yet Picard dresses down Worf because Wharf didn't conform to human society values.

But to me the most hilarious thing was that the only time Picard tried to advocate FOR following Klingon tradition was when Worf wanted to commit ritual suicide after suffering a major back injury that would have left him paralyzed.

And then there is the time Picard threatened to make major changes in the command structure of the ship when Commander Riker wouldn't give him more information about the USS Pegasus incident, because a Starfleet Admiral had ordered Riker not to talk about it.

So yeah the hypocrisy of the 24th century abounds. They're not so hypocritical in the 23rd century..

In general the technological level of the Federation has always been just a backdrop in Star Trek. The basic technology hasn't changed in Star Trek for over a thousand years now. From the 22nd to the 32nd century, the ships still use Photon torpedoes, phasers, and warp drive.
^^^
These are technologies that are always a part of any Star Trek series no matter what era it's in, but overall the tech is there just to serve as another occasional plot complication to a given story.

What matters in most stories is how the crew react to the situation; and the psychological attitudes of the 23rd Century compared to the 24th century and beyond are very different.
 
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