Actually, no, I'm not done with that.
Look, I grew up on the '80s/'90s Trek - the seven seasons, 200+ episodes - and so sometimes I think that nostalgia is clouding my thinking, and that maybe I'm just the crotchety old man yelling at the clouds for moving.
But I don't think so this time.
When I was teaching at my old school, the kids were watching "The Office" and "Friends"; now, kids here (by which I mean anyone under 28 😂) are watching "Columbo"!
Long-running shows with lots of episodes - in the network style - give the viewer a chance to really get comfortable with the characters, and it gives all the characters a chance to shine! Over the course of that many episodes, eventually everyone gets some A-plots, and a decent number of B-plots. Streaming just doesn't offer that.
Take Discovery as an example - in four seasons, how many times have Detmer or Owosekun had an A-plot? Has there been even one? How many times have Rhys or Bryce had any at all? These are the helm, ops, tactical, and communications officers - primary characters on every Star Trek show ever! It would be unthinkable for them not to have featured in the old style of show - each would have certainly gotten at least one A-plot, and several B- or C-plots to feature in every season. But there they're barely elevated above background.
I know it's possible to make memorable and/or high-quality shows under the kind of constraints streaming imposes - hell, the British have been doing it for decades. But it feels like that's a different kind of memorableness/greatness than a 200+ episode show. And, like any ecosystem, it's weaker when there's less diversity.
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“If I were human, I believe my response would be, ‘sashay away.’”
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I am once again thinking about how in The Naked Time, Spock has an emotional breakdown after contracting the virus and cries about the regret he feels for not loving his human mother vs his shame he feels for his ongoing friendship with Kirk, but before he contracts the virus, Spock finds LOVE MANKIND written on the wall. And it's been written and discussed to death about what it means, I know this, but it's telling that Spock not only loves in spite of his Vulcan upbringing and continued adherence to their customs but that he holds regret and shame deep down inside because the love is still there, regardless.
Whereas Kirk likewise has his virus-induced breakdown over the opposite: his self-inflicted pressure to not love an individual, either due to fear of distraction from duty, losing his position as captain due to the ethical conundrum of "How can a captain date one of their crew?" (no, I do not know the details of how Starfleet manages crew relationships, but I'm assuming rank is an issue, especially where captains are concerned), or even the unspoken taboo of the show's production era, his sexual orientation, hence his focusing on the ship as the only safe and constant outlet for his love. But after this, Kirk finds SINNER REPENT written on the wall, as if to say his altruism isn't the full truth, as if what he desires is what he denies even with the virus lowering his inhibitions.
And like my god. What foils to each other! How damned telling the literal writing on the wall is for them! I am going to eat my fucking sweater!
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Thinking about how in the Star Trek whale movie, when they travel back in time, Scotty tries to speak into a computer mouse and a guy has to tell him "no see we got a mouse and a keyboard!" and back then this was "haha in the future all of our really modern stuff is gonna be old-fashioned and outdated!" and today it's. Scotty is an ipad baby.
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I love Garak rolling his eyes at Julian's flirting with women in Our Man Bashir because I truly believe that if Julian started laying those moves on him, Garak would explode
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by hiring babs olusanmokun to play dr. m'benga strange new worlds is continuing leonard nimoy's star trek legacy by putting the most handsome man you have ever seen in your entire life in a silly little blue shirt and making him hold Devices
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