Why do I already not like Star Trek Discovery?

[bson]

I thought in general it's good, but it has some specific shortcomings:

1. The acting is awfully stiff.  But this is often the case for the first season of any show.
2. The characters mostly feel weak.  They just don't come across as intelligent and competent individuals.  This is a problem that occurs when the script writer lacks basic subject literacy or even interest - such as command structure, leadership, engineering, navigation, life onboard a ship, etc.  When they have interpersonal conflicts it's often about puerile matters.

I do think it's worth the money though... so will watch the rest of the season.  The CBS All Access (ad free) streaming quality, at least on my Roku Premiere+ with a 4K TV, is quite good.

[bson]

The Orville is worth watching, too.  It's a bit more in the spirit of the original ST, but clearly a very different concept from ST:D.

[stmdude]

The Orville is worth watching, too.  It's a bit more in the spirit of the original ST, but clearly a very different concept from ST:D.

Absolutely. I was very skeptical at first, but episode 4 was way better Star Trek than ST:D.

One thing though. I can't make up my mind about what to call The Orville. I want to say "ST parody", but that doesn't seem fair. Not enough parody in it for it either..  Wikipedia says that it's "inspired by ST", which it most definitely is, but...

[bitseeker]

The Orville is worth watching, too.  It's a bit more in the spirit of the original ST, but clearly a very different concept from ST:D.

Alas, the name just won't stop conjuring up thoughts of

[calexanian]

+1 for the Orville is getting better and better. Episode 4 felt like a real star trek episode. The crew works together and all seem competent. The actor styles appear to gel with their characters. It should become a good company of actors.

[Fungus]

Now we're being told the reason for all the girly catfighting in the first episode of Discovery.

The "plot" calls for the best officer in the whole of Starfleet  ,  but... she also needs to somehow have been disgraced. This means she can taken out of jail for a special mission. 

2. The characters mostly feel weak.  They just don't come across as intelligent and competent individuals.  This is a problem that occurs when the script writer lacks basic subject literacy or even interest - such as command structure, leadership, engineering, navigation, life onboard a ship, etc.

+1 Insightful.

(and hence the 'annoying roommate' charcter in episode 3 - the writers all think they're working on a high-school movie. )

[Psi]

I think the 3rd ep shows considerable improvement from the first 2.

but the discovery intro sequence is terrible, no startrek 'wonder' in it at all.

[calexanian]

Well its clear this is not a cannon show or in the original timeline anymore. They just need to admit to that. It looks like good sci fi. But its not Star Trek. I will continue to watch, but not with the warm fuzzy feeling I am getting from The Orville. I say good luck to CBS. I am watching only because I am a Sci Fi fan and I do not know if enough average TV viewers will subscribe to make this all access venture pan out for them. I think a lot of people will be turned away by the subscription model and the non family friendly aspects of this show. episode 3 had many scenes and topics not suitable for young children, and when did we all begin watching star trek? When we were young. It is a modern action adventure suitable for adults. There are already many upon many shows like that available for free on network TV and i just dont know how profitable this will be. At this point i have given up on seeing a post voyager back to business star trek show anytime in the near future, or at least until the Star Trek property is wrestled away from CBS or management at CBS is installed that is pro genuine Star Trek. That may unfortunately be another...... 20 years. Like it was the first time. Baring the animated series which was, ahem, Filmation.... enough said.

[Electro Detective]

I came close to tuning out 'The Orville' ST semi-parody in 'casual trekkie' disgust, but stuck with it just to see how low the lines can go 

and if the toilet humour improved    or WENT AWAY... by the end of the episode

I prefer this crew (and ship) a LOT better initially than STD, and will endeavour to persevere through to episode 4,

hoping things will shape up to ST standards as 'calexanian' commented above

[Rick Law]

Judging from the comments here, it sounds like the world can use a new space travel series instead of reheating Star Trek and serve it over and over.  This chicken has long pass the rubber-chicken stage and it is beginning to chew like fossilized meat.

Oh, any such new series should separate the "military/exploration" with the general population.  No reason why the crew would bring their family and their toddlers on to what could be dangerous.  Let's face it, maternity ward next to the torpedo bay just doesn't seem right.

Once you get rid of the thousand or so babies and toddlers on board, now you can do some series action without looking too silly.  (Bye bye, Westley)  The ship can trim down to something serious action.  Like use the rest of the room on board for some serious weapons of mass destruction.

[bitseeker]

I prefer this crew (and ship) a LOT better initially than STD

STD! What an unfortunate acronym collision.

[Electro Detective]

I prefer this crew (and ship) a LOT better initially than STD

STD! What an unfortunate acronym collision.

lol, that's what happens keeping up with the TOS and TNG abbreviations 

Let's see if they address the 'STD' issue in Discovery or Orville    with all that mixed bonking going on between humans and aliens    

 

[Lightages]

I finally watched the first episode. Actually I watched the first two thirds. I couldn't stand any more. It is horrible on its own merit without any comparison to or concern for any of the previous series. The camera work is ridiculous, all the movement and weird angles, the Klingons seem like empty costumes, the acting of everyone else is horrid, the script is boring and uninteresting, and the whole dynamic of the crew is flat. It would be more interesting to watch endless re-runs of GIlligan's Island.

I won't go into the dozens of other problems. I have already spent too much time on this POS.

[Electro Detective]

You did not miss anything vital, not much happens till halfway into the second episode of STD, except more klingon drivel and star fleet b!tching.

The good news is that annoying Klingon and his entourage of bad hair day w0rriers get their asses taken out, and gone from the story (if you can call it that)

Episode 3 has no shortage of new weirdos, a wacky over serious dark captain that should be re-assigned to the Orville to tone down their BS   

and plot/s resembling 'LOST' scripts      making it up as they go

They should enlist Jim Carrey to save both shows, he'll sort it out...     

 

[TerraHertz]

https://9gag.com/gag/aB8GzdA

I'd never heard this bit of ST history.

[bitseeker]

Amazing! I hadn't heard about that either.

The cartoon got one bit incorrect. Roddenberry wasn't the co-pilot on the flight. He was the third officer. The pilot and co-pilot would've been rather busy at the time.

Here's the relevant bit of history from Wikipedia:

In 1945, Roddenberry began flying for Pan American World Airways,[14] including routes from New York to Johannesburg or Calcutta, the two longest Pan Am routes at the time.[14] Listed as a resident of River Edge, New Jersey, he experienced his third crash while on the Clipper Eclipse on June 18, 1947.[15] The plane landed in the Syrian desert, and Roddenberry dragged injured passengers out of the burning plane and led the group to get help.[16] Fourteen people died in the crash; 11 passengers needed hospital treatment, and eight were unharmed.[17] He resigned from Pan Am on May 15, 1948, and decided to pursue his dream of writing, particularly for the new medium of television.[18]

And from the page referenced in footnote 15, which recounts the crash as well as the names of the crew members:

It was the beginning of round-the-world service for Pan American Airways, and the airline brought in, for the flight, some of its finest crew. On the leg from Karachi, India, to Istanbul, Turkey, designated Flight 121, the New York City based flight consisted of ten Pan-Am personnel: Captain Joseph Hall Hart, Jr., First Officer Robert Stanley McCoy, Second Officer & Navigator Howard Thompson, Third Officer Eugene W. Roddenberry, First Engineer Robert B Donnelly, Second Engineer W. E. Morris, First Radio Officer Nelson C. Miles, Second Radio Officer Arthur O. Nelson, Purser Anthony Volpe, and Stewardess Jane Bray.

[Ice-Tea]

Also: I want Firefly back.

[bitseeker]

Also: I want Firefly back.

Yup. I watch them all every year.

[Ice-Tea]

I don't understand that it hasn't happen yet.. There's now a dozen or so "gorillas" with very deep pockets trying their darnest to find decent content and Firefly is just laying there...

[AF6LJ]

Also: I want Firefly back.

That would be great but the movie ended the series and undoing that would be hard.

[Electro Detective]

Thanks for that info, I didn't realize Firefly was a series, I watched a pilot type thing years ago (good flick IIRC) and thought it was just a one off

The Orville episodes 4 and 5 appear to have lifted their game btw, with a bit of the early TNG-ish style imo

I like it and hope they go with that and eject the playground toilet lines into the next black hole



 

[bitseeker]

Also: I want Firefly back.

That would be great but the movie ended the series and undoing that would be hard.

No need to undo it. Surely, there's more to do in the 'Verse. I haven't read the books, yet, but at least one covered more of the origin story, (e.g., where'd Book come from and why does he know so much?).

Thanks for that info, I didn't realize Firefly was a series, I watched a pilot type thing years ago (good flick IIRC) and thought it was just a one off

Definitely check it out. Note that the series was originally aired out of order. If you get the DVDs or stream it, you can see it in the correct order. Then, the movie, Serenity, wraps up much of the main arc, but still has some loose ends.

[calexanian]

I watched episode 4 today. After you get over that it's not cannon, and people don't act the way officers should act, its ok.. I will keep watching for lack of anything better. With just a few tweaks though, it could have been something so much better.

[bitseeker]

I'm getting caught up on The Expanse. Pretty cool, so far.

[rdl]

I'm getting caught up on The Expanse. Pretty cool, so far.

I've heard good things about it and it must be doing well since a third season was announced. I have season one available to watch but just haven't had the time.