Originally published at: Check out this awesome interview with the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation | Boing Boing
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Hmmm. I wonder if you’ve been hanging around in the same toxic wasteland of fandom that I have? Because there’s no show, least of all Picard, that has had rapturous reception from the fans - and it’s worth remembering that TNG only became huge during the very early days of the ‘web’* which meant that a lot of the vitriol was contained within small fanzines and the like. Nowadays, people think nothing of recording 90 minute diatribes about misplaced consoles on the bridge and posting them to YouTube. (Note: I thought the actual video was great. Thank you.)
*yes, OK, those of us who were already on UseNet and BBSs were starting to inculcate that toxic fandom experience nicely but it took the Web to help it mature. And even then it wasn’t until Reddit et al became important that it really took off.
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“ There’s never going to be another Star Trek: The Next Generation .”
True. Where you fail is in saying the other franchises are lesser.
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For those of us old enough to watch the show when it was aired, I can tell you that it very much looked like the show was doomed from the start. The first season was pretty heavily panned and even the cast felt it was dead. The change came, surprisingly to me, when Roddenberry was sidelined, which was when Riker grew the beard, being a change so significant that it’s now a trope.
I think a lot the TNG success came from it’s incredible writing. They gambled (much like DS9 did) and won on talking about topics similar to what TOS did.
For the successor series, they went away from covering all the bases like TNG did. DS9 is a epic space opera, and is challenging to follow without watching previous episodes. Voyager is a standard monster-of-the-week popcorn show, which was perfect for the network it aired on and was the popular theme of the time. Enterprise was just…off. They couldn’t figure out what they wanted to do with it, the network abandoned it, and then they killed it in what is generally considered the worst way ever. Because of this, the further series have generally been even more niche, causing even less general fanfare.
I’ve read and heard good things about Discovery and tons of raving about SNW so those might finally bring the fandom around. I think there also is conflict in how the newest big movies portray the IP and how the shows do.
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One of the more important improvements in writing since TNG was moving beyond clunky social metaphors that often failed (and were embarrassing if not outright counter to their intention) to having actual representation of some communities on the shows. Gay and trans people in particular.
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I’ve been blown away by how good Strange New Worlds has been for a 1st season.
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I think DS9 and Voyager come close to TNG in particular episodes, but overall they couldn’t catch that spirit for extended periods. Part of it may be the characters: I find that in TNG all the characters have qualities that make you like them, but in the other series I find only some of the characters are truly lovable, Quark, Rom and Nog on DS9 for example.
TNG also tackles what I like most about science fiction: using space and technology as a way to explore other ideas, philosophical or cultural, while Voyager and DS9 tend to rely on more battles and standard soap opera plots.
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One modern Star Trek series that is seemingly gaining universal acclaim as of late is Star Trek: Picard.
Season one and two, in my opinion, were a hot mess. And I know others who would agree. So I’m unclear on the acclaim, unless season three has overcome the problems of the earlier seasons, which I find hard to believe after one episode. Full disclosure, I haven’t watch S3E01 of Picard, yet.
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TNG was a product of its time, I suspect. The innocence is lost. Someone could try to make something like it again today and – even if it could avoid some of the bigger mistakes of those first two seasons – it would just be torn apart one way or another before it could get off the ground, especially with audiences as fractured as they are.
I really should watch The Orville one of these days. And Strange New Worlds. And The Expanse, probably. And Babylon 5, maybe.
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As a HUGE Star Trek fan I recommend that you watch the Orville, especially season 2. Season 1 has hit & miss episodes, but Season 2 really has some great ones. Then Strange New Worlds. It’s good. Not great, but good. I like the Expanse, but it doesn’t really do it for me as much as I want it to.
My favorite ST series is TNG. Then TOS, then Voyager, Enterprise, DS9,
Of the new stuff: in order
Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, Picard, Discovery.
Took me a while to get into Lower Decks, but now, as a fan, I really enjoy it. It’s fun and filled with call backs to the whole series which you won’t get if you haven’t watched a lot of them, but I have.
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I recommend you do watch S3E01 of Picard. It’s good. I agree with you about Seasons one and two.
The feel of season 3 Episode one is like, Butch and Sundance go on an adventure and get the band back together." The thing that was missing from 1 and 2 was a sense of fun! Credit to the showrunner and Frakes for bringing that. S1 & S2 had high levels of pomposity. Sure they save the world and the timeline, but where are the light hearted jokes during the down times? Or in the middle of them!
Plus, you don’t have to learn a whole bunch of new characters! Fan service? Sure. But I’m cool with it!
Will the rest of the season go like this? Who knows? But for one episode, ST Picard was good.
generic_nameBBS Rear Admiral
TNG also tackles what I like most about science fiction: using space and technology as a way to explore other ideas, philosophical or cultural,
Yes. I totally agree. That is what I enjoy most, not space battlesin the other series I find only some of the characters are truly lovable, Quark, Rom and Nog on DS9 for example.
Likeable characters and humor are essential for me too. One of the reason I love the StarGate series, esp SG1
evadrepusBBS Admiral
I’ve read and heard good things about Discovery and tons of raving about SNW so those might finally bring the fandom around.
I was VERY disappointed by Discovery. Filled with pomposity. Not many likable characters.
TERRIBLE Pacing! Effects look cool, but I’d give them up in a heart beat for better scripts & characters.
I’d suggest you check out Lower Decks, Took awhile to get into it, but I started liking the characters and the humor as well as the extensive call backs to Trek history in the shows.
I recommend the Orville for people who want more ST: SNG. Especially Season 2. It really has the ST: SNG feel to it.
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“…every Trek show since TNG has failed, in one way or another, to garner the rapturous reception that the latter seasons of Next Generation enjoyed.”
I dunno, Strange New Worlds is fantastic, and i’ve watched (and enjoyed) all the shows so far. I haven’t heard any ST fan who doesn’t like SNW, actually. I’m also in the camp of liking Picard and Discovery, particularly the latter for really stretching the boundaries of the universe, and showing so many different races and making us care about them all.
[EDIT]: after watching the whole interview, i’m even more excited to start Picard Season 3. if i’m guaranteed to lose my mind over what they have in store for the old TNG characters, i’m way in. Sounds very fun.
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The Orville has the problems of the lack of acting ability on the part of the lead character- and the inability to resist frat boy behavior.
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True, people have forgotten the poor reception those early seasons received because we have the latter superior seasons when it found its groove. Let’s not forget either that the first season in particular just more or less copy and pasted plots from the original series. I’m sure Patrick Stewart once said he didn’t unpack his suitcase for 2 years after moving to LA because he was convinced it was going to be cancelled.
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Are there 3rd season picard spoilers in it?
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No. They danced around that nicely.
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I wonder why Wesley Crusher isn’t in S3 Picard?
Was he killed offscreen or something?
Frat boy shit?!? From the guy who created Family Guy?
Did you see season 2 of Picard? He showed up on the last episode as a traveler, and invited Kore Soong to join them as Supervisors of the timeline. As such, his story line is essentially wrapped up. Wheaton is pretty much retired from acting on screen, and does mainly hosting and voice over work in animation, games, and for audiobooks. He seems much happier doing that work.
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@Mindysan33 - thanks!
No - the various reviews scared me the hell away from S1-2.
I watched Ep1 Se3 and feel I’m better for it - it’s got vibes somewhere between TNG and the OG cast movies. Worth watching IMO.
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