Rumours, news and general speculation

[sunnyside]

I wonder if this will actually work. The original intent for The West Wing was this - that the President would be somebody who showed up fairly infrequently, whilst the show was mostly from the POV of the staff, with Rob Lowe as the lead. That lasted one episode, because the President was the one everyone wanted to see. I wonder if they might end up with their own star sidelined by the supporting actor?

Well, I did rather enjoy the TNG episode "The Lower Decks" so maybe this will work. It probably helps if they're scripting ahead of time to make it work, vs just throwing it out there.

Still betting on Axanar. It's the only thing I can think of that even vaguely fits.

As you said, that would explain a few things with the fan production.

Hmmm. Okay. But not a sentient robot, one would hope. Data was the first.

While I think there was something about him being the first Starfleet officer, there are plenty of other instances of artifical intelligences throughout the series, many of which were established to have existed long before the Federation. And of course there are plenty of seemingly sentient AIs other than Data within the Federation. For example the holograms in the holodeck, who rather seemed to have minds of their own.

Regarding the ship, while I don't especially like it either, I think the idea of the thing was that they wanted to stick something like an aircraft carrier deck on the thing. I feel like I've seen elsewhere that you guys at least are warm to that idea.


I'm disappointed in the 13 episodes a year thing though. That means you're paying $6 an episode, and then you still have to watch commercials unless you want to pay something more like $9 and episode, which is getting a bit steep.

[Jim]

I would not mind a show that moves awar from the center of the decision making. Someone has to vacuum the floors. Someone has to repair the hull when the ship gets damaged. Someone have to empty the toilet in the shuttle.

[Graham Kennedy]

I would not mind a show that moves awar from the center of the decision making. Someone has to vacuum the floors. Someone has to repair the hull when the ship gets damaged. Someone have to empty the toilet in the shuttle.

Sure, but is that something you want to watch people do?

[Mikey]

I'm disappointed in the 13 episodes a year thing though. That means you're paying $6 an episode, and then you still have to watch commercials unless you want to pay something more like $9 and episode, which is getting a bit steep.

This. There is nothing I've heard so far that makes me want to give money to see this, and certainly nothing else that I've heard about CBS' plans to consider a paid service.

Regarding the ship, while I don't especially like it either, I think the idea of the thing was that they wanted to stick something like an aircraft carrier deck on the thing. I feel like I've seen elsewhere that you guys at least are warm to that idea.

I'm not sure that such was the intent with the McQuarrie design, and even if so, the issue with that ship isn't the IU usage or rig - it's with the way it aesthetically fits (or rather, doesn't fit) with the way the Federation builds its ships. One could have made a carrier-ish ship design that actually looks like a Fed ship of the indicated time period - I'm sure if I spent 10 extra minutes online, I could find a dozen fan-made designs that fit the bill. Give GK a half a day on Blender and he could probably give you three or four.

While I think there was something about him being the first Starfleet officer, there are plenty of other instances of artifical intelligences throughout the series, many of which were established to have existed long before the Federation. And of course there are plenty of seemingly sentient AIs other than Data within the Federation. For example the holograms in the holodeck, who rather seemed to have minds of their own.

In TOS - the only framework of what does exist before the new show, rather than of what doesn't (e.g., sentient androids,) there were AI's... as I recall, very buggy, faulty things that seemed to require UNIVAC-sized computers and were generally landscape-dominating architectural features. There were also androids - Mudd's, et. al. - but they weren't sentient (or sapient, if you prefer niggling syntax.)

Well, I did rather enjoy the TNG episode "The Lower Decks" so maybe this will work. It probably helps if they're scripting ahead of time to make it work, vs just throwing it out there.

True, but I have a cynical feeling that such a show would end up just being about the same type of command position/problems/drama, just writ smaller. It could be done compellingly, but my visceral feeling is that it won't.

I would not mind a show that moves awar from the center of the decision making. Someone has to vacuum the floors. Someone has to repair the hull when the ship gets damaged. Someone have to empty the toilet in the shuttle.

Agreed with GK - yes, there has to be a contingent of middies/able seamen/ratings/whatever-the-hell aboard, doing all the day-to-day crap... but watching that for 45 minutes hardly makes compelling television.

Besides, based on everything we've seen from TOS until now, Starfleet's officer-to-enlisted ratio is the most out-of-whack number in the history of numbers.

[Jim]

I would not mind a show that moves awar from the center of the decision making. Someone has to vacuum the floors. Someone has to repair the hull when the ship gets damaged. Someone have to empty the toilet in the shuttle.

Sure, but is that something you want to watch people do?

They were extreme examples... but it could be good. It just depends on the story. If you are going for scifi adventure... probably not. If you are going for a bit more comedy, that would 100% work. If the people that they pick are the "other" folks that go on away missions and such, it could work quite well even for scifi adventure.

[sunnyside]

Agreed with GK - yes, there has to be a contingent of middies/able seamen/ratings/whatever-the-hell aboard, doing all the day-to-day crap... but watching that for 45 minutes hardly makes compelling television.

First off, has anybody here not watched Red Dwarf? If so you'll thank yourself for remedying that.

But for this series they said it was a Lieutenant Commander. So we're talking senior staff and probably a department head and bridge officer. That isn't exactly new ground. Kirk was pretty well always in the spotlight in TOS, but after that we'd regularly have episodes where someone other than the captain was the focus of the episode, and I'd say the majority of the episodes features a strong B plot with someone other than the captain. For DS9 in particular there are probably a couple seasons worth of episodes where the role with the most lines isn't Sisko. I think a lot of those episodes were good ones, so I feel like that concept could work, especially if it's a planned plot arc for a single season, and then they shift the focus in the next season.

[Mikey]

#1 - There's only one Red Dwarf (yes, I know, but...) and this show will NOT be able to catch that lightning in a bottle again, if if it were to try - which it won't.

#2 - The quote of mine which you cited above was in response to Jim's assertion that

I would not mind a show that moves awar from the center of the decision making. Someone has to vacuum the floors. Someone has to repair the hull when the ship gets damaged. Someone have to empty the toilet in the shuttle.

[Graham Kennedy]

The thing about Red Dwarf is that whilst the characters we're following were the lowest schlubs on the ship, everyone else is dead. So Rimmer and Lister are still the guys in charge, and we're still following the decision makers.

If Red Dwarf were what STD appears to be, Red Dwarf would be about the adventures of a couple of the scutters.

[Nutso]

Bryan Fuller Reveals “Balance of Terror” is “Touchstone” of Discovery Story

http://trekmovie.com/2016/09/09/bryan-f ... ery-story/

[Graham Kennedy]

source

So the latest rumour is that the Romulans may feature in DIscovery.

*sigh*

If true, this is another example of why I hate prequels. Why make a prequel if you're not interested in actually making a prequel?!

[Jim]

Because the prequels would be insanely boring if they stuck to what the TOS set up as their probable history. It would end up being either a political show (zzzzz) or a construction show.

[Graham Kennedy]

Which is an excellent reason not to make a bloody prequel in the first place!

[Mikey]

Funny how many of us were able to figure that out...

[Graham Kennedy]

Series has been delayed until may!

Veeeeery interesting. Problems, I wonder, or just wanting more time to develop the show?

[Jim]

... or view it as pure entertainment and not get hung up on meaningless details.