General Star Trek thread

eadrom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123685360#Comment_123685360

I'm assuming you have watched Andor?

I have. Loved the first season, although the second didn't work quite as well imo.

I wouldn't be a huge Star Wars fan anyway but yeah, that's a good example from over there. Star Wars is a place and here's an interesting story that happens within it – no Skywalkers, no light-sabers, but unmistakably "Star Wars".

TheValeyard

Came across this on Reddit

Rawr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123686595#Comment_123686595

«Major, you misunderstand….that other Ducat was just a valued work colleague»

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123685227#Comment_123685227

Yes maybe.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123686595#Comment_123686595

I don't get it.

Evade

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123686902#Comment_123686902

Dukat is a massive narcissist who could only love himself. The underlying image is a CEO caught cheating on his wife with his head of HR on the crowd camera at a Coldplay concert

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123686966#Comment_123686966

And do you think there's a statue of him anywhere at a Coldplay concert?

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123687303#Comment_123687303

He really was a bloody excellent villain wasn't he. The type that fully believes in their own megalomania, eloquent at times too even though we knew he was wrong.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123686966#Comment_123686966

Thank you. Yes I remember that.

AMKC

Fair play to them,

https://trekmovie.com/2025/07/30/watch-strange-new-worlds-cast-joins-pop-up-star-trek-dance-performance-at-sdcc/

eadrom

bunch of new videos added to the Roddenberry Archives today. Interviews with Nicholas Meyer and Walter Keonig, a piece on the Shatnerverse novels, and a 30 minute documentary on “Phase II and the Rebirth of Star Trek”.

https://youtube.com/%40OTOY/videos

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123697067#Comment_123697067

Never mind phase II. We need a phase III or a phase IV Star Trek rebirth.

Inviere

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123698671#Comment_123698671

What we need, are competent Sci fi writers who are also allowed by the network executives to write intelligent, thought provoking stories, in a well crafted and believable world, through characters that are relatable, believable, and engaging enough for us to care about.

TLDR - Yeah, Trek is pretty much dead.

eadrom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123698727#Comment_123698727

After my defending of the "throw away" episodes elsewhere on this forum… this season of SNW has been really very poor, and I like it less the more I think about it.

The Gorn episode wrapping up last season's cliffhanger – fine. Not my favourite flavour of Trek but I guess it was fine.

A Trelane/Q episode that can't mention Trelane or Q and has the exact same punchline as the TOS episode. Pointless, really.

"Lets do zombies." 🤷

Lets do 'Elementary my Dear Data' again but… it just felt like there was a lot going on in the TNG episode (one of my favourites) and really the SNW version does not do well by inviting the comparison. Again, pointless really, a few cute or fun moments not withstanding.

I see the Alien: Earth series reviews are starting to come out and they're looking good! EmpireOnline calling it "Andor for Aliens". Then I look at that Starfleet Academy trailer… 😭

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123698969#Comment_123698969

Was really disappointed that Alien: Earth was a prequel and had no hope for it being any good. Delighted to hear otherwise.

Rawr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123698969#Comment_123698969

There certainly is some good Sci-fi television still getting made. So it is somewhat hearting to sense that a dip in the quality of Trek isn't condemned by today's TV environment as a whole. It can possibly get better.

But what is wrong, and how can it be improved? This will sound like a bit of a broken drum, but this all starts and ends with Alex Kurtzman. (I know, I know…done to death…but hear me out). What are experiencing now with Kurtzman Trek kind of reminds me a lot of the trailing years of Berman Trek.

Rick Berman (despite his many failings) did a half decent job at show-running TNG-era Trek. We even got a pretty good Trek movie with First Contact. The team he had working with him managed a lot of really excellent television and despite an extremely rocky start for Voyager, a lot of it was pretty good Trek. The final 5 years of DS9 were gold, and Voyager's 5th Season is pretty damned good. But then something happened…some kind of rot took hold. It was well in place by Season 7 of Voyager and carried over to Enterprise. There was this production fatigue that had taken over. A lot of re-cycled, re-heated storylines and nowhere near the same imagination or energy that had been there at the end of DS9. It felt like it was either time to give the franchise a rest, or get a new show runner. I feel that Berman overstayed at the end, and that Enterprise was the result. They were out of ideas, and went the route of the recently released Star Wars prequel trilogy for their new show.

Kurtzman is in a different place, but the effect is nearly the same. However he didn't start off well. He came into Trek as someone who didn't really know the franchise worked and thought he could use what he did in the Kelvin-verse movies to make a TV show. Discovery looked a lot more like Star Trek 2009 than anything else that came before, and I don't think he really knew the difference. That's why you get shiny floors and glass viewscreen windows all over the place. Nearly any Trek show he touches will almost always suffer because of this odd "uncanny valley" effect. What Trek was actually done well (Lower Decks in particular) is likely good because his involvement was minimal or only on paper.

So just like Berman, I do also think Kurtzman overstayed. Frankly more than one year on the job is overstaying with this guy, but staying as long as he has isn't helping. However unlike with Berman, Kurtzman actually owns the production house that sits on the current TV agreement with Paramount. Which means he gets to overstay as showrunner by virtue of his position.

The solution to getting better Trek is for Kurtzman and is studio to leave the franchise. A new showrunner who cares more about quality and has the writing chops to do something good with the available Trek universe would help increably. Would love a Trek show of the same quality as the likes of Andor or Severance or Silo or (insert some good Sci-fi here). But it can't happen with Kurtzman sitting on it.

Academy might be good…but the marketing so far has been along the lines of: "Look! A Jem Hadar Starfleet Captain!" "Look! A Sisko reference on a screen for 2 seconds!!" "Look! The DOCTOR!!!1!" But there's little in the way of revealing the characters who should be driving the show, and all know damned well that those member-berries will be used up in the space of 5 minutes. It does not bode well. This is Kurtzman Trek in a nutshell, a sub-par space-drama coated in a thin layer member-berries.

AMKC

I am not sure if this cast really get what a holodeck is,

Watch: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Cast Reveal What They Would Do With A Holodeck – TrekMovie.com https://share.google/nBzvIXaTzXPBZXyPf

Yes you could go back in time on it but only if you know what to program. Its only a tome machine to your imagination it does mot avtuslly takr you back in time.

Yes you vould go to an alien planet but it would have to be from your imagination and if you can do that for real why would you do it on the holodeck?

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123685429#Comment_123685429

I, too was less impressed with Season 2, but as you said, no lightsabers, no Jedi, but unmistakably a Star Wars story.

AMKC

Well if this below gets the go ahead we might just get a Trek "Andor" like series.

Pitched as series for adults about adult stories sounds good to me and President Archer. Who would not want to see that?

I know I would certainly watch if its done right and if we finally get to see the Enterprise NX-01 Refit on the screen proper. Not just as some museum piece.

It could be a great way for us to see some of what season 5 of Enterprise could have been like to if they could fit that in it as well maybe have Archer tell a story about how he brought the Romulan Earth war to on end or something etc.

Also unlike a lot of trek actors Scott Bukala has kept busy and has really grown as an actor. So yes bring it on. I think "Star trek Archer" sounds great "Star Trek United" could work too though.

Exclusive: Scott Bakula Eyeing Star Trek Return In President Archer Series Pitch From ‘Enterprise’ Producer – TrekMovie.com https://trekmovie.com/2025/08/08/exclusive-scott-bakula-eyeing-star-trek-return-in-president-archer-series-pitch-from-enterprise-producer/

LambshankRedemption

I actually came here to post about that story.

I like how one of the writers describes it as a sort of West Wing in space.

Around 2015, I was working for a company that was doing consulting with NetFlix. A guy I was working with at NetFlix said, "Do you know how House of Cards came about? We analyzed the viewing habits of all our users and the data told us that if we created a political adult oriented drama series it would be a success". Sure enough the first season of House of Cards was a massive success. Admittedly subsequent seasons were not as popular and the story got too dense and then the sacking of Kevin Spacey didn't help matters, but the first season was excellent.

Now if they could recreate that, but set in the Star Trek universe, it could be terrific. Presumably we won't be on here complaining about whacky episodes either.

breezy1985

Another prequel. Fuk that.

And an actor known for not being that serious is going to give us "Trek Andor". I highly doubt it.

Cookie_Monster

West wing in Space would be pretty watchable I reckon. The thing about The West Wing (and later The Newsroom) was they were actually intelligent shows rather than 'splosions or action or teeny bopper nonsense like JJ trek. The writing (and writers) is some of the best anywhere on tv and you rarely get it these days.

Actual slow paced, intelligent, non end of the galaxy every other week level of plot, with actual adult character with proper development would be amazing.

Inviere

Will it be set in the Kurtz-verse like the rest of todays shite? Or will he be gone by then and we can maybe get back to some actual Star Trek?

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123708611#Comment_123708611

I have no problem with that if it's done right and well written.

It could be great.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123708829#Comment_123708829

Hopefully if it ever happens it is set in the Prime Universe and not the Kurtz one.

Rawr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123708846#Comment_123708846

Andor was pretty good. They had ditched the overused light-saber swigining Jedi verses Sith formula of a lot of Star Wars shows and focused a lot on the everyday evil of the Empire as well as the everyday heros that made up the Rebel Alliance. It was grounded and gave a new and interesting perspective to the universe. There was a point to it, not just another low-res copy & paste of previous Star Wars.

Trek done in a similar vein might be good. We might even get back to the clever social commentary that we used to get in pre-Kurtzman Trek. Drop the over-use of lens flares, pew pew phaser cannons, and the over saturation of all things Vulcan or Borg (getting kinda sick of seeing the Vulcan salute pop-up in Trek promotion) and get some stories about fleshed out people dealing with interesting stuff.

President Archer trying to hold together a newborn Federation might make for interesting television. It’s another bloody prequel which is annoying…but it’s done well I might not mind.

eadrom

Future Earth politics and the birth of the federation? I dread to think of all the ways that could go wrong in the hands of the current creative team.

I just don’t believe they’ll get the writers needed to pull this off.

pleasant Co.

I could start watching snw s3, instead I’m rewatching ds9. Please get a job with DC or marvel, kurtzman, just go away.

TaurenDruid

/reads last page.

Summary:

• All Trek since {my favourite 90s Trek} has been terrible;
• Yes, that includes SNW, even though some of us like it and actually called for the show to be made - it's still also just terrible, ok?!
• All references to the past are "memberberries", are irredeemably bad, objectively, and are just fan-service;
• Except for this one thing we've heard they're doing, which actually would be cool;
• And except for if they actually did make the other things we've decided would be cool; they get to be exceptions;
• But it will be irredeemably bad, because of this one guy.

That about sums it up, I think?

God, I don't think I've ever encountered so negative a thread…

TheValeyard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123709232#Comment_123709232

If you take all the negativity on the threads and combine it, you get this:

Rawr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123709008#Comment_123709008

Oh they’d need someone who‘s good at this, but I think my meaning is that the quality of the likes of Andor gives me at least the hope that a sort of The West Wing / Birth of the Federation show could potentially by pretty good television if handled properly by skilled writers and directors. I doubt it could be the current bunch, they’d have to get in someone new.