Star Trek - The What's Next Generation

[Blackbird71]

Yeah, if the new trek is a lot of gunfights, and making out, I'll prolly drop it. Enterprise kinda lost me because of that, though I love the hell out of Scott Bakula.
War right out of the gate (which seems like jumping the shark to me), shootouts, T'pol doing that gel bath thing. It was far less what TOS, and TNG were about. DS9, while a change of theme, was still highly enjoyable, though the dominion War kinda sucked.

Enterprise was a sadly missed opportunity - it had (some) enjoyable actors and characters, and a setting with a lot of opportunities for classic "Trek" exploration, development, and conflict. If only the writers could have come up with a decent plot instead of taking already overused plot devices and wearing them to the bone (time travel).

I do think the cast was pretty solid. Hell, i'll at least try to watch anything with Scott Bakula in it just coz Quantum Leap kicked that much ass.
They lost me when they deeply entrenched the plot in war, really. Especially right out of the gate.
War's rarely well done, so it mostly just amounts to weak writing. Create enemy, make them fight, don't get much deeper than that like humanizing people, revealing motives, nope, just make one side just the bad guys.

thinking about it the non orchestra opening song kinda was a nail in the coffin. Not the first one, not the last one, but Trek doesn't feel like Trek otherwise, to me.

Totally agree with you on Bakula; he's the main reason I'm watching NCIS: New Orleans at the moment. And for the most part, yes, the rest of the cast was pretty solid. I really only had a problem with the character of T'pol, and that was more of an issue with the writing/directing than with the actress (newsflash for any former Enterprise writers who just happen to read this: "disdain" and "disgust" are emotional responses).

War can be done well, but it's hard to do. It's practically impossible to get right when the ultimate enemy is some sort of distant and faceless threat. It worked somewhat well for DS9 because for many of their stories, the war was the backdrop rather than the focus, providing a setting in which they could develop the effects on the characters. You are absolutely right that when it just becomes fight after fight and loses focus on the human element, the story just gets tedious and repetitive.

When the show first started, I too was leery of the non-instrumental theme. However, I have to admit that after a while it grew on me (I actually bought the soundtrack; twice). It didn't quite feel like classic "Trek", but it did carry a sense of determination, exploration, and wonder (it's too bad that the show itself failed to convey these ideas). I didn't really care for the new arrangement they did in later seasons though; it seemed an unnecessary effort to push even further away from the show's roots. A lot of the other (instrumental) music in the show was rather enjoyable though; "Archer's Theme" had a good inspirational sound to it that felt very much like a classic Star Trek orchestration(it's the one that played in part during the end credits).

I will always mourn Enterprise as the show that could have been great.

Likewise on NCIS. He has an unexpected ability to add southern charm to the series.
Agreed on T'pol. She had potential, but the writers wanted sex appeal beyond 7 of 9, it seems like, but they overlook the fact that Star trek has never had a shortage of sexy women that didn't need gel bath scenes, and such.

You nailed it on the head. War was the backdrop of Star trek in general. Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Borg, Founders, the war was never dwelled on too hard. I love the human element. When characters, human, alien, hero, villain, grow as people, and show that they're not just simple descriptors is part of why I enjoy a series.

I can't say too much about the sound track since I couldn't stomach the drastic change of formula from treks before. Just that opening song kinda being off.

I dug this up for you: Archer's Theme [https://youtu.be/88I1pAZy3Sw]. A limited selection of that (pretty much the portion with electric instruments) was used during the closing credits. That theme and variations on it (mostly without the "electric" sound) was used throughout the series as background/tone setting music. It's not necessarily the best music that 'Trek had to offer, but there is enough of Star Trek in the sound and feel of this and other pieces on the soundtrack for me to feel they are connected, even if a bit distantly.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

I dug this up for you: Archer's Theme [https://youtu.be/88I1pAZy3Sw]. A limited selection of that (pretty much the portion with electric instruments) was used during the closing credits. That theme and variations on it (mostly without the "electric" sound) was used throughout the series as background/tone setting music. It's not necessarily the best music that 'Trek had to offer, but there is enough of Star Trek in the sound and feel of this and other pieces on the soundtrack for me to feel they are connected, even if a bit distantly.

it really is nice to hear it. It does feel like Star Trek. Thank you.

It's pretty nice as a Trek song, though honestly I never paid a whole lot of attention to the back drop music aside from the TNG saucer section separation. Puzzled me why the opening theme played.

 

[Jute88]

Why not continue where DS9 and Voyager left off? Federation has to deal with their new neighbor, the Dominion, rebuilding of Cardassia. And what about the Borg? I remember Janeway doing something to them, but what was it? It had something to do with their ability to travel in space.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

We will be lucky if the show lives up to the hype of this comic strip.

 

[Jorpho]

Why not continue where DS9 and Voyager left off? Federation has to deal with their new neighbor, the Dominion, rebuilding of Cardassia. And what about the Borg? I remember Janeway doing something to them, but what was it? It had something to do with their ability to travel in space.

She blew up one of their big trans-warp hubs, basically. Nothing they couldn't necessarily rebuild.

Of course there is a semi-official continuation of what happened next in various novels. As you might expect, it is kuh-razy stuff.

 

[Jute88]

Why not continue where DS9 and Voyager left off? Federation has to deal with their new neighbor, the Dominion, rebuilding of Cardassia. And what about the Borg? I remember Janeway doing something to them, but what was it? It had something to do with their ability to travel in space.

She blew up one of their big trans-warp hubs, basically. Nothing they couldn't necessarily rebuild.

Of course there is a semi-official continuation of what happened next in various novels. As you might expect, it is kuh-razy stuff.

Thanks for clearing that up, it's been ages since I saw Voyager.

So, basically, it was pointless to blow it up in the first place?

 

[Jorpho]

So, basically, it was pointless to blow it up in the first place?

Well, supposedly it would at least be a major setback that would cripple their operations for some time to come, etc.

 

[Jute88]

Well, supposedly it would at least be a major setback that would cripple their operations for some time to come, etc.

Okay, interesting. With proper writers it could be used to make some good stories. Like making the Borg more aggressive and expansionist. Or make them isolate themselves from the rest of the galaxy until they're done repairing Janeway's damage.