Star Trek series coming in 2017

[JasonPratt]

Or if looked at as 117 years after TNG instead of before TOS. And in the Kelvinverse.

I like their thesis that the first two eps are basically a fourth AbramsTrek film.


(Also, if possible you should watch not just listen -- their facial expressions are great, and they put visual jokes into the clips they show.)

[JasonPratt]

"What really worked about TNG [and about DS9] is that it's a world I really would want to live in. [...] I'm picturing living in the world of [STD] and I don't really want to."

That's fairly incisive. I'd agree with that as a chief reason (for want of a better word) of why I'm willing to put up with the various weaknesses of TOS and TNG and DS9, but haven't been able to tolerate VOY or ENT. Even though conceptually I really ought to like the latter two shows; but their weaknesses stand out in sharper contrast, and maybe this is why.

[mirth]

Just seeing the clips in the review is enough to make me want to skip STD.

[mirth]

Angry Joe's take

[JasonPratt]

Oh, yeah! -- haven't gotten to them yet.

The RLM guys don't seem to like The Orville (for reasons they don't go into), but their theory that it has an audience despite 20% on RTom, fits the thesis of "Is this a story we would want to live in?"

Worth noting however is that when they poke fun at the Orv for having a critic rating of 20%, user votes are more like 89% liked it, and the average THE AVERAGE rating for Orv (at the time of this ep's production anyway) is 4.3/5. So 89% users like it, and its score EVEN COUNTING IN THOSE WHO DON'T is 86%. But the critical consensus (at the time) is dirt low.

[BanzaiCat]

Keep in mind that "critics" are paid mouthpieces that are expected to churn out crap that is controversial, drives traffic to their site, and gets people talking about them and their rag, when normally nobody would. So giving something a 20% might be a cry for help from their print/site overlords.  :D

[SirAndrewD]

Worth noting however is that when they poke fun at the Orv for having a critic rating of 20%, user votes are more like 89% liked it, and the average THE AVERAGE rating for Orv (at the time of this ep's production anyway) is 4.3/5. So 89% users like it, and its score EVEN COUNTING IN THOSE WHO DON'T is 86%. But the critical consensus (at the time) is dirt low.

I'd be curious to know how many episodes the critics got to review, as there's not yet a per-episode review aggregate up on RT.

In the situations when my wife's gotten advance review packets for TV shows, it's typically consisted of only the first one or two episodes.   I know the Star Trek Discovery packet was three episodes. 

If the reviews for Orville are based on the first one or two episodes alone, I can surely see the ratings being that low.  It really took the third to fourth episode to really grow on me.

EDIT:  Found the answer.   Critics only reviewed through episode 3.

[JasonPratt]

The main title sequence has already been released. Yes, I've already rolled my eyes at it.

...wtf did I just watch with my eyes?

GUYS! I JUST HAD A NIGHTMARE ABOUT THE MOST PRETENTIOUS TWADDLE AND STAR TREK BUT I REPEAT MYSELF!

The theme music was a bit confusing, too. Ding! -- ah, the classic opening chords... Dung -- uh... Dang -- wait.

Really? They could afford 4 to 6 million dollars an episode by selling the rights to Netflix outside the US, but they couldn't afford to buy rights to use the opening chords? So they decide to half-fake them, to give the mood but not the content?

And yet, at the end, the other classic opening fanfare chords are strongly played. So... ..... ........ why use an inferior Turkish Hollywood copy of the original to start?

Then it occurred to me: this is a microcosm of the series arc to come, isn't it? Starts like fake Star Trek, but by the end it'll be real Star Trek.

And then I realized why they created another prequel series instead of doing the otherwise reasonable thing and going for a proper sequel to the main timeline (perhaps a few decades onward, so that TNG/DS9/VOY characters could occasionally guest star).

They want to segue into stunt casting another Kirk, Spock, etc. And slowly introducing them for rating boosts. Heck if this series lasts ten years (dubious), or takes a couple of convenient time-skips forward (plausible), they can segue directly into remaking TOS.

Then I threw up a little in my mouth. I probably shouldn't have eaten three aspirin before watching that.

[SirAndrewD]

Then it occurred to me: this is a microcosm of the series arc to come, isn't it? Starts like fake Star Trek, but by the end it'll be real Star Trek.

And then I realized why they created another prequel series instead of doing the otherwise reasonable thing and going for a proper sequel to the main timeline (perhaps a few decades onward, so that TNG/DS9/VOY characters could occasionally guest star).

They want to segue into stunt casting another Kirk, Spock, etc. And slowly introducing them for rating boosts. Heck if this series lasts ten years (dubious), or takes a couple of convenient time-skips forward (plausible), they can segue directly into remaking TOS.

I wouldn't be shocked by that.  The showrunners have already said that anything that we think looks like it's not canon now will be explained as the show goes further.  The tie in novel already had Pike and the Enterprise appear (apparently looking just like they did in TOS, uniforms and all).  As the show goes forward, the TOS era can be absorbed into the body of Discovery.

It's of note that Bryan Fuller's initial intent was for Discovery to be a one off anthology, and this story would be self contained and any further seasons would take place in different eras with different crews.  CBS so disliked this idea that they showed Fuller the door.   So yeah, prepare to be reimagined.

[bbmike]

Just seeing the clips in the review is enough to make me want to skip STD.

I never did sign up to watch the rest. I don't think I ever will.

[SirAndrewD]

I never did sign up to watch the rest. I don't think I ever will.

The first part by itself is abysmal.  The second part raises it to average to slightly above average depending on your tolerances for the visualizations. 

Both parts together are not even really the pilot, they're just the prologue and a setup for the REAL show, that starts in Episode 3.  It's all one very long, convoluted and designed scheme to get All Access subscriptions. 

I'm going to stick with it though, since it's not illegal to watch it on a friend's couch who is paying for it, I'm going to keep doing that.

I will say however, I like it better than Enterprise at this point.   Enterprise almost lost me the second a farmer shot a Klingon in a cornfield.  It DID lose me when time travel got dropped before the pilot was over. 

I'll watch the STD pilot 100 times over than inflict myself with any more Time Trek.

[GDS_Starfury]

I'm picturing living in the world of [STD] and I don't really want to."

only Mirth lives in an STD world, thats why he wants to skip it.

[mirth]

I'm picturing living in the world of [STD] and I don't really want to."

only Mirth lives in an STD world, thats why he wants to skip it.

You'd like it. You're actually an active GH participant in the STD world.

[mirth]

Watched the first two episodes. Didn't hate totally it. It doesn't belong in the TOS universe. Doesn't feel like a fit at all. The Sarek tie-in didn't work for me. The Klingons are cool villians, just not Klingons. I especially hated the Klingon ship designs. Couldn't tell the ships from the debris field they were floating in.

Decent show, but doesn't feel much like Trek. Maybe the JJ Trek.

[Staggerwing]

I'll wait for a few more eps to drop and then try that free week of CBS Access to binge.