TV Shows: More Star Trek?
Jul. 29th, 2024 09:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroStar Trek: The Next Generation (Season 2) - The transition from season 1 (Beverly Crusher goes to head Starfleet Medical but Wesley opts to stay, Pulaski is introduced to be bigoted about Data, etc.) is remarkably condensed but explicit. “Elementary, Dear Data” actually makes a startlingly accurate prediction about generative AI: The computer can only create “new” Sherlock Holmes stories by mashing together elements of old ones. There are some really solid episodes in this season, and also a number of ideas and characters that get revisited later.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 3) - The show really hits its stride in this season. I’m not going to say there aren’t a few clunkers, bad special effects, or bad guest actors; but it’s a great season. And the first part of “Best of Both Worlds” is possibly the best season-end cliffhanger in TV history.
Star Trek: Lower Decks (Download, Season 4) – The Lower Deckers all get promoted to Lieutenant JG and are joined by a new Vulcan crewmate, but the loving send-up of Star Trek otherwise continues apace. There’s an entire episode dedicated to the most absurd episodes of Voyager; and another that introduces “Moopsy,” a horrifying monster just begging to be made into a plush toy.
Liberty Cabbage (Kickstarter, Season 1) - Zombie Orpheus/Dead Gentlemen Productions, aka the folks who made The Gamers and associated properties, did a Kickstarter for a season (four episodes) of a sketch comedy show. It’s…okay? It’s very self-referential, there are definitely some funny bits, but they also start relying on running gags and intersecting sketches very quickly. They were trying for a Monty Python vibe with modern sensibilities and the writing just isn’t quite strong enough for it. I’m glad I backed it in that I got my money’s worth and I want to see this troupe keep producing things, but I’m not seeing this as a breakout sensation.
Avatar The Last Airbender (2023) (Netflix, Season 1) – A live-action retelling that establishes itself as “not for kids” when Sozin burns someone to death In the prologue. I feel like the audience for this is people who grew up watching the cartoon—which also describes the actors. It’s very pretty, and both the visual effects and the tone are much better than the movie version. (Shocking, I know.) Character beats are changed: Aang doesn’t flee the firebender invasion, he goes out to clear his head before it happens and gets caught in the storm. Sokka isn’t sexist. Azula is introduced much earlier and she and Ozai get much more screen time and development. Lt. Jee actually gets some character and Cmdr. Zhao has much, much loftier ambitions. I was actually less critical of this after reading Patrick Stewart go on at length about remakes and revisions of Shakespeare; there’s a lot of fun and love in this beyond just cynical Hollywood cash-grab, and I can appreciate that.
Delicious In Dungeon (Netflix, Season 1) – Tumblr has been crazy about this show, and I understand why, because it’s a combination of D&D jokes and anime food porn. It’s clever, it’s funny, and it’s got the single most autistic character I think I’ve ever seen. The depth of the worldbuilding is particularly noteworthy, because they take a lot of standard D&D monsters and tropes but pull them in a different direction (an early example: Living Armor is actually a colony of mollusks!). The season ends with a clear goal and problems for next season, which could be 6 episodes or 48 episodes and probably still work out well.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 3) - The show really hits its stride in this season. I’m not going to say there aren’t a few clunkers, bad special effects, or bad guest actors; but it’s a great season. And the first part of “Best of Both Worlds” is possibly the best season-end cliffhanger in TV history.
Star Trek: Lower Decks (Download, Season 4) – The Lower Deckers all get promoted to Lieutenant JG and are joined by a new Vulcan crewmate, but the loving send-up of Star Trek otherwise continues apace. There’s an entire episode dedicated to the most absurd episodes of Voyager; and another that introduces “Moopsy,” a horrifying monster just begging to be made into a plush toy.
Liberty Cabbage (Kickstarter, Season 1) - Zombie Orpheus/Dead Gentlemen Productions, aka the folks who made The Gamers and associated properties, did a Kickstarter for a season (four episodes) of a sketch comedy show. It’s…okay? It’s very self-referential, there are definitely some funny bits, but they also start relying on running gags and intersecting sketches very quickly. They were trying for a Monty Python vibe with modern sensibilities and the writing just isn’t quite strong enough for it. I’m glad I backed it in that I got my money’s worth and I want to see this troupe keep producing things, but I’m not seeing this as a breakout sensation.
Avatar The Last Airbender (2023) (Netflix, Season 1) – A live-action retelling that establishes itself as “not for kids” when Sozin burns someone to death In the prologue. I feel like the audience for this is people who grew up watching the cartoon—which also describes the actors. It’s very pretty, and both the visual effects and the tone are much better than the movie version. (Shocking, I know.) Character beats are changed: Aang doesn’t flee the firebender invasion, he goes out to clear his head before it happens and gets caught in the storm. Sokka isn’t sexist. Azula is introduced much earlier and she and Ozai get much more screen time and development. Lt. Jee actually gets some character and Cmdr. Zhao has much, much loftier ambitions. I was actually less critical of this after reading Patrick Stewart go on at length about remakes and revisions of Shakespeare; there’s a lot of fun and love in this beyond just cynical Hollywood cash-grab, and I can appreciate that.
Delicious In Dungeon (Netflix, Season 1) – Tumblr has been crazy about this show, and I understand why, because it’s a combination of D&D jokes and anime food porn. It’s clever, it’s funny, and it’s got the single most autistic character I think I’ve ever seen. The depth of the worldbuilding is particularly noteworthy, because they take a lot of standard D&D monsters and tropes but pull them in a different direction (an early example: Living Armor is actually a colony of mollusks!). The season ends with a clear goal and problems for next season, which could be 6 episodes or 48 episodes and probably still work out well.
