Discovery has been picked up for a third season, according to all the Trek social media
On Sun, Feb 3, 2019 at 10:51 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > Credit where credit is due, the cast of Discovery knows how to make a > (musical) joke at their own expense. > > https://www.facebook.com/StarTrek/videos/544141186098858/ > > I wish they could star in an actual Star Trek series. > > On Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 10:34 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> >> >> On Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 2:22 PM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> I confess that I'm not so big a Star Trek fan that I can honestly >>> remember many pertinent character traits of someone who appeared in two >>> episodes of TOS. So Pike being a bit different to how we was in those >>> episodes doesn't really worry me. But I honestly think you have to consider >>> a very long running series like Trek (or Doctor Who for that matter) in a >>> different way. Shows are obviously a product of their times. TOS might have >>> been set in a far future, but it was also "set" in 1966. While warp drives >>> or whatever aren't close to being invented, something as simple as screen >>> technology has moved on vastly from what they could even imagine in 1966. >>> >>> So TOS becomes a kind of retro-future from today's vantage point. So you >>> either adopt that static 1966-view of the future in every Trek, or you >>> adjust accordingly. I'm happy that they've done that. Things won't match up >>> perfectly, but they never have, and never will. >>> >>> As for characterisation? To me it's a little like watching a really good >>> production of Julius Caesar and enjoying the performance of the actor who >>> played Mark Antony. Then later seeing an entirely separate performance of >>> Antony and Cleopatra, with a different actor playing Mark Antony. They are >>> the same character both from the same Shakespeare "universe," but >>> interpreted by different actors and directors. There's a continuity of >>> character, and yet differences. >>> >> >> This is gonna be longer than it needs to be, but here goes... >> >> I have seen others discuss reboots on TV in relation to live theater >> casting different people for the same role... it just isn’t the same to me. >> Iconic characters are going to be recast... there will be an infinite >> number of James Bonds, Batmen, and James T Kirks. But these characters are >> products of their respective times. There can be British secret agents who >> treat women as equals, and there can be female secret agents... but none of >> those characters will be Bond. And it is unfair to say that audiences are >> behind the times if we refuse to accept entirely new characters who only >> happen to share the same name as the originals. I loved the British series >> Spooks/MI5 about a diverse group of spies both male and female, of all >> sorts of racial backgrounds... they were able tell amazing stories that >> were distinctly not Bond stories. In terms of Trek, JJ Abrams did an >> amazing job of retaining the characterizations of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy >> without altering defining traits of those characters. Kirk is always going >> to be a smug, frivolous adventure seeker... or he wouldn’t be Kirk. For >> that matter, JJ did a decent job with the Pike character, making him more >> stoic and earnest than Kirk. Live theater will have multiple actors playing >> Julius Caesar, but they won’t have Caesar kill Brutus at the end of the >> play. Macbeth is never going to be the good guy. Romeo is never going to >> fall in love with Juliet’s nurse. >> >> You’re correct that Pike was only on screen a comparatively short time on >> the original series, and in a good chunk of that time he sat in a chair and >> beeped. But it seems disingenuous for the Discovery writers to take from >> that and assume Pike would be different merely because he was a few years >> younger. But it is indicative of what the team behind Discovery has done >> with Trek... they’ve taken the basic shape of the ships, a few names, a few >> sound effects, but then tossed out the dynamics of what made Trek withstand >> the test of time. The trinity of Kirk, Spock and McCoy was iconic... the >> id, ego, and superego in constant conflict with each other, reacting to the >> events of each episode. If you’re going to create a new series with new >> characters in the same universe, you have to be thinking in those terms, or >> you’re cheating the audience. The Next Generation shifted which character >> fulfilled which role, but there was still a trio of different reactions and >> actions as they explored the emotions and consequences of their missions. >> Deep Space Nine had decent stories (possibly some of the best written >> sci-fi in the franchise), but wasn’t very good Trek. Voyager eventually >> found its way. Enterprise had it, then lost it when the Xindi arrived and >> they made every character react with identical reactions and angst. >> Discovery, by virtue of not making the captain the center of the story, has >> wiped out the give and take found in the original series. Tilly is the >> ranked equivalent of Yeoman Rand, and Trek isn’t the story of Yeoman Rand’s >> journey through space. Doesn’t mean there can’t be good stories featuring >> the Tilly character, but they won’t be what for 50 years has been an iconic >> Trek story. >> >> I really want to believe that if CBS had created a brand new sci-fi >> series about a war between humans and an alien race but made no attempts to >> link it to the universe of Trek, I’d probably have enjoyed it. I liked >> Stargate. I loved Babylon 5. But if you’re going to call it Star Trek, then >> dammit Jim, you better make it Star Trek. >> >> >>> How dark or light this season of Discovery will be is still too early to >>> say. I'm not a total fan of Tilly being ditzy one moment, and a gifted >>> scientific genius the next, but even the darkest of dramas do need some >>> light just to show how dark the shade is. And at least she's not an >>> annoying child prodigy on the bridge... >>> >>> >>> Adam >>> >>> On Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 5:36 PM Steve Timko <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> I watched it. Too soap operaish for me. I hate those moments where the >>>> plot grinds to a halt because a character is going to emote. That happened >>>> too much with Billie Piper on "Dr. Who." >>>> Tig Notaro was wooden. Ironically, the comedian's worst lines were the >>>> jokes her character cracked. I can't believe they couldn't get someone >>>> better for that role. >>>> >>>> On Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 9:06 PM 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV < >>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> FWIW, I think having the Enterprise show up at the end of last season >>>>> hemmed in the show at least as much as setting it a decide prior to the >>>>> first series. I suspect the new propulsion system will get ignored like >>>>> the Warp 5 restriction on space travel was in during the 24th century >>>>> spinoffs. >>>>> >>>>> That said, I think it's tricky to presume that Captain Pike was always >>>>> the way he was in The Cage/The Menagerie (which happened roughly 3 years >>>>> before the events currently unfolding on Discovery). He started that >>>>> first >>>>> pilot as a burned out captain wondering if he should hang it up (Dr. Boyce >>>>> had suggested a rest leave) and ended the episode ready to get back to >>>>> exploring. >>>>> >>>>> What I expect might give me agita is young(er) Spock. Yes, he wasn't >>>>> as buttoned up serving under Captain Pike, but I'm concerned they will go >>>>> to far in that direction to seem consistent with Quinto's or Nimoy's >>>>> portrayals. >>>>> >>>>> David >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Saturday, January 26, 2019, 11:23:43 PM EST, Kevin M. < >>>>> [email protected]> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 6:24 PM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> I think we've been here before about Discovery being in an impossible >>>>> situation being an immediate prequel of TOS. Frankly, Pike extolling >>>>> something that might have sounded likely in 1966 but sounds old-fashioned >>>>> in 2019, is the least of anyone's worries. They're still going to have to >>>>> get rid of new propulsion system at some point and explain away why no >>>>> other subsequent Treks was able to use it. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I can’t agree with you. It is a worry. Either the original series is >>>>> canonical or it isn’t. I’m not the one who decided a second prequel series >>>>> was a good idea; it opens them up to exactly this sort of criticism and >>>>> more. But more than just the chauvinistic comment (which from a >>>>> storytelling standpoint was a horrible thing for them to abandon... >>>>> imagine >>>>> the sort of stories that could emerge from a character who basically feels >>>>> like Archie Bunker helming a starship, especially a starship with so many >>>>> strong female and alien characters), Pike wasn’t a fun guy. He was somber, >>>>> serious, contemplative. It was easier to make the character more jovial >>>>> because they seem to be embarking on another very dark story arc and >>>>> needed >>>>> a lighter character in command, so they just changed it. They control what >>>>> is canon, so they have the right to do whatever they want with the >>>>> character, but it opens them up to criticism from Trekkies. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I think you just have to park all that and enjoy the new series... or >>>>> not. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I’ll take “or not”... if it was on free media I’d probably hate-watch >>>>> it the way Dave S hate-watches all things Sorkin, but I don’t need to pay >>>>> CBS to do that. I’m in Nebraska... lots of things here I can dislike for >>>>> free. >>>>> >>>>> I will try to hold out hope for the Picard series, despite the same >>>>> “creative” team being behind it, it has a chance to expand the universe of >>>>> Trek instead of sinking inward into its past. And while Michelle Yeoh is a >>>>> favorite, a series about Section 31 sounds even less Trek-like than >>>>> Discovery. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Personally, I'm still enjoying this more than most. Episode 2 feels >>>>> very old-Trek with an away party going down to a planet in disguise. Yes, >>>>> there's an ongoing story arc, but that's to be expected. Of course, this >>>>> side of the pond we're lucky that we don't need a whole other TV >>>>> subscription to essentially watch just this one show. It's on Netflix here >>>>> thankfully. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Adam >>>>> >>>>> On Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 5:44 AM Kevin M. <[email protected]> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> It was free on the CBS All Access YouTube channel so I watched. It is >>>>> better than it was when I stopped watching last season, but that's not >>>>> saying much. There wasn't much to the Pike character in the original Trek >>>>> pilot, but this Pike character was nothing like what little there was in >>>>> the pilot (i.e.- in the pilot, Pike remarked he wasn't used to having >>>>> women >>>>> on the bridge, but didn't balk at Discovery's nearly all female bridge >>>>> crew, supposedly 9 or 10 years earlier). Frankly, Discovery Pike is closer >>>>> to early Kirk, but whatever. Still not paying for All Access to watch more >>>>> episodes. >>>>> >>>>> Free on YouTube (limited time only) >>>>> >>>>> https://youtu.be/8rvMqRrtmkY >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> Kevin M. (RPCV) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> -- >> Kevin M. (RPCV) >> > > > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
