Your honest opinion on the Berman era

[CaseyW]

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate your thoughts. I think for now I will just take a little time between The End of an Era (I have watched of listened to one Star Trek or another most nights for the last few years — partly for entertainment and partly to distract my thoughts and help me get to sleep) and the possible beginning of another. I’ll let your perspectives settle in my brain, and I thank you for not getting into all of the likes and dislikes you have so that I can go into the new series more or less fresh. I’m grateful to all of the folk who worked together to make these series, and to you folk for keeping this bulletin board going for so long. It’s amazing to finally have people who can answer my ST questions!

Good night.

 

[Farscape One]

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate your thoughts. I think for now I will just take a little time between The End of an Era (I have watched of listened to one Star Trek or another most nights for the last few years — partly for entertainment and partly to distract my thoughts and help me get to sleep) and the possible beginning of another. I’ll let your perspectives settle in my brain, and I thank you for not getting into all of the likes and dislikes you have so that I can go into the new series more or less fresh. I’m grateful to all of the folk who worked together to make these series, and to you folk for keeping this bulletin board going for so long. It’s amazing to finally have people who can answer my ST questions!

Good night.

You're very welcome!

Always happy to provide honest feedback and views of the various shows in the franchise.

 

[Lord Garth]

I changed my vote from "I like two or three of these shows" to "I love the era". Even though I don't love every show, I love the idea of what I think of as good-hearted science-fiction. Somewhere in each of these shows there is a desire to act from a principled stand, to be generous and compassionate with other life forms and cultures, to be curious and want to learn and form new bonds. It doesn't shine all the time but it's in there, along with some joyful humour, and that's what keeps me coming back. For me, Voyager succeeds the most in this and over time I have pretty much fallen in love with Captain Janeaway.

Now that Netflix has lost rights to the franchise I am considering getting a subscription to Paramount and watching some of the younger series. However, when J J Abrams came out with the first Star Trek movie, post purchase, I was extremely disappointed in it. It seemed to me that it had lost that heart, that central core, and had become just another good-versus-evil shoot 'em up bang bang, in which I have no interest at all. I was also very irritated by the change of established personalities of the people involved, especially Spock. (Although I haven't seen it since it came out so I can't remember any more detail than that.) I am curious to know which of the later series you might recommend as still holding that old theme.

I like DSC and PIC. PRO as well if I'm in the mood for it. So, as you can probably guess from that, I don't neatly fit into any category. But, in terms of how much I think these series are like the ones from the Berman Era:

The first three seasons of Discovery don't feel like the Berman Era. The fourth season of Discovery wants to be like the Roddenberry Era. Meaning TMP and Early-TNG. The fifth season of Discovery feels a lot more like the Berman Era. Then it ended.

Picard continues the storylines of the Berman Era, but it doesn't actually feel like the Berman Era. Though I'd say the second and third seasons channel the TOS Movies. Especially the third season.

I can understand why people say SNW Season 1 feels like the Berman Era. I can see it. Even though I believe Rick Berman would've had the TOS Timeframe presented the same as it was depicted in TNG, DS9, and ENT, in other words: pretty much like TOS, except with the most minor of embellishments. From my point-of-view, SNW seems less and less like the Berman Era afterwards. I haven't seen any of the third season, but I've kept tabs, and I don't think half of a season in the Berman Era would've been comedy episodes.

Lower Decks isn't a show Rick Berman would've done but if they made an adult cartoon out of Star Trek in the late-'90s or early-2000s, I think that could've easily been LD. American adult cartoons aren't my thing; I'm honestly not into them. But, if you are, give it a shot.

Prodigy picks up the from the Berman Era. It's geared towards kids but it never feels like it's writing down to them. I honestly preferred Prodigy over Lower Decks.

 

[kkt]

That there is no plan for discharge. Just put in and never to be released.

Why is there no way to manage mental illness to allow them back in to society in some way rather than just locked up?

Again, they have a use but there's also treatment for improve their stability and utilize community resources to give them support in a normal life.

There needs to be a balance rather than just locked up.

I thought there WAS a balance and most of the mentally ill in the Federation could be cured to the point where they could lead a pretty normal life. The ones we saw in the asylums were the very rare cases that could not be cured.

 

[fireproof78]

I thought there WAS a balance and most of the mentally ill in the Federation could be cured to the point where they could lead a pretty normal life. The ones we saw in the asylums were the very rare cases that could not be cured.

I would have to rewatch but it did not feel balanced. Especially given the specialization of study that Kirk had to utilize

 

[Sim]

I like DSC and PIC. PRO as well if I'm in the mood for it. So, as you can probably guess from that, I don't neatly fit into any category. But, in terms of how much I think these series are like the ones from the Berman Era:

The first three seasons of Discovery don't feel like the Berman Era. The fourth season of Discovery wants to be like the Roddenberry Era. Meaning TMP and Early-TNG. The fifth season of Discovery feels a lot more like the Berman Era. Then it ended.

Picard continues the storylines of the Berman Era, but it doesn't actually feel like the Berman Era. Though I'd say the second and third seasons channel the TOS Movies. Especially the third season.

That's a good observation, imo... I also don't think PIC is *that* bad (I'd say the story arcs have some flaws, but I like both old and new characters and they have some great moments), and while it does continue storylines of the Berman era, it has a different style and feeling to it. Maybe you can say PIC is closer to the TNG movies than to the series.

DSC made a point of being different than the shows that came before, at least in the beginning.

As for Burnham crying: The crying itself isn't bad, but that it exemplifies everything that's bad about the way the character is written. It's usually cheap melodrama rather than drama, imo. And the character is totally inconsistent, the writers had no idea who she was supposed to be -- hero or anti-hero, tough and competent know-it-all, or emotionally unstable crybaby compared to whom even Counselor Troi appears like a stable stoicist. Imo.

 

[1001001]

I didn't say it was. YOU were saying I had that problem, which I didn't say.

So you mind telling me why you are putting words in my mouth?

AGAIN????!!!

And you came at me first with this performative drama queen garbage.

Okay, let's all take a step back.

This is not worth getting warnings, so how about we drop this?

Thanks

 

[fireproof78]

for Burnham crying: The crying itself isn't bad, but that it exemplifies everything that's bad about the way the character is written. It's usually cheap melodrama rather than drama, imo. And the character is totally inconsistent, the writers had no idea who she was supposed to be -- hero or anti-hero, tough and competent know-it-all, or emotionally unstable crybaby compared to whom even Counselor Troi appears like a stable stoicist. Imo.

Welcome to trauma response and repression.