VERY SHORT TREKS...

Some of the most beloved X Files episodes are those written by Darin Morgan. They outright parody aspects of the show, including the main characters - within canon, no less.

There is absolutely room for that approach, and if done well I think even a pretty intense fanbase can embrace it.

Whether it has been done well here is perhaps another matter.

 

Of course there's room for poking fun at things, but when it's something like TAS that's historically been denigrated and marginalized, having its only anniversary tribute be something that treats it disrespectfully seems like punching down. It also perpetuates the enduring misconception that TAS was "just a silly cartoon" that can be dismissed as unimportant.

I mean, it wouldn't have been so bad if they had also released something like a half-hour documentary about the making of TAS, the kind of thing you'd expect to be released as an anniversary tribute for any other series.

Yes, that's a major part of it too. The trailer alone was enough to turn me off.

 

I really enjoyed both of these. Both are a lot of fun, and both have points to their stories. ("SKIN A CAT" on how easily so many people get offended these days, "HOLIDAY PARTY" on how many people can just not get humor or mistake things as being humor.)

I think VERY SHORT TREKS is both an homage and a parody of TAS. And why not? It earned its place in the franchise (I mean this in a positive way, because there were some outstanding ideas in them) with some of their stories, and some of the mistakes in the animation almost beg for a parody.

Look at SUPERNATURAL. One of the reasons why it lasted 15 years and 327 episodes was because while it dealt with serious things, it also knew how to poke fun at itself. There's a sort of wisdom in being able to laugh at yourself... because let's face it, EVERYONE has done things in their life that deserve to be laughed at.

And be honest... the franchise has done serious episodes where the entire premise is laughable. Picard as a pre-teen must save the ship. A giant amoeba in space. Salamander babies.

These VERY SHORT TREKS are simply embracing that.

I bolded the parts that I am in complete agreement with.

 

Fun?

FUN, YOU SAY???!?!?

How DARE you have fun with these episodes! Star Trek is a SERIOUS BUSINESS! SERIOUS, I SAY!!!!

Did I say, how DARE you?!? I'll say it again!! How DARE you!!! If I could change the font size in my post I'd make it 72-point !!!

Instead I suppose I'll have to settle for Greta Thunburg to adequately express my profound outrage.



NO fun here!!! That is a DEMON word. Yang DEMON! You will NOT SPEAK IT!!!

 

"The Ensign hurt his genitals, then farted, but he did not die"

Can't remember the last time I laughed so much (yes yes I am twelve).

 

There's a little twelve year old in all of us.

Well...

Some of us, anyway.

 

Like someone else said, this is not what I'd expect from something celebrating the 50th anniversary of a show. It feels like they're treating TAS as one big bad joke. It's not the pinnacle of animation for sure, but animating newer characters in its style and keeping more in line with the tone of the series the characters are from would have been nice to see, Very Short Treks do not feel like they're appreciating the source materials.

 

So much so I don't even know what it is.

Which tracks in line with his presentation in "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

It leans more heavily on the straight man routine, or a character like Captain Holt, in terms of having fun.

To quote Picard, "Sometimes you have to bow to the absurd."

STAR TREK, no matter what is presented, is at the end entertainment. It doesn't require respecting (no, no it doesn't) and it isn't above absurdist humor. It is Shakespearean in that way in that it exists in a elevated reality in that the jokes and such are nearly as outrageous as they are unlikely to occur.

And, if nothing else,

they are easily ignored.

 

Interesting, so it’s an ageism thing? Stereotyping all boomers. Sorry if I sound too sensitive, but I’m not sure that’s a term that should be accepted for general use. It’s akin to the use of “snow flakes” as applied to all of the younger cohort.

For the record, I grew up on Firesign theater, Monty Python, second city, George Carlin …so I would like to think that these counter culture comics represent “boomer humor”. These shorts are more 3 stooges level of slapstick. They don’t work for me, but then again, I’m probably not the target. And I’m ok with that.

Little wonder that, reading the posts, these shorts are so divisive.

 

It's not even really Boomer Humor. It's Gen X humor but young people keep forgetting Gen X was a thing.

 

Offended:
I'm from Australia so am naturally offended by "SKIN A CAT". Australia is not nothing just to be given to losers in a game of RISK.
Spock saying "farted."

Not offended:
Aside from this its just a bit of poking fun at my favourite characters that isn't mean and I am looking forward to seeing the next one.

 

I hope and pray for your husband's full recovery. God Bless.

 

What's wrong with Basil Fawlty?

 

I honestly am out of the loop.

 

He likes edgy comedy. He follows the, anything can be funny theory of comedy and not the punching down theory of comedy. This has created conflict.