Star Trek Animated Comedy Series Is In the Works (ew.com) 138
Zorro shares a report from Entertainment Weekly: The first-ever official Star Trek comedy series has been ordered. CBS All Access has greenlit an animated series from Emmy-winner Mike McMahan, a writer on Adult Swim's sensation Rick and Morty The half-hour series is titled Star Trek: Lower Decks and will tackle the Federation from a comedic perspective, focusing "on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships." Fans will recognize the Lower Decks title as referencing the name of one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The Orville (Score:5, Insightful)
The first-ever official Star Trek comedy series has been ordered.
They should just allow The Orvile to use actual Trek artwork and names....
Anyone else thinks that feels more Star Trek than Discovery*?
*which is not bad and there shouldn't be a difference between classical technobabble explaining away everything or some magic mushroom stuff doing the same... but it feels more fantasy than Trek usually was.
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Their special effects are great, and their battle scenes are mostly awesome as well.
Or rather good special effects became affordable compared to The Enterprise-B's maiden voyage....
Don't forget that DS9 used an Amiga on steroids for their special effects and that was a step up from TNG....
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> Don't forget that DS9 used an Amiga on steroids for their special effects and that was a step up from TNG....
DS9 didn't use any CGI until season 3, and that was for the Bajoran Lightship - rendered by ILM (who did NOT use Amigas).
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/CGI [wikia.com]
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Bajoran_lightship [wikia.com]
Maybe you're thinking of Babylon 5?
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Huh. So you're saying The Orville is just like ST:TNG (as well as quite a few ST:TOS episodes)? Maybe I should give it another chance.
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It's essentially Seth MacFarlane's fanfiction scripts for TNG, where he gets to play the captain.
This means that it also contains a lot of his humour and moral values, so beware. If you don't like 'get a room' elements, like some of the users above. In one of the episodes for example there's an Andorian looking alien, who gets everyone super horny he comes in contact with. Which happens to be Seth MacFarlane's character amo
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I'm still hoping Bortus will compare some current situation to something he and Clyden did back in the day. This would be followed by a bit of an uncomfortable pause as if everyone is waiting for a cut scene; then everyone shakes it off when Bortus asks if he said something bad.
They also need Seth Green to guest, so they can rip on Robot Chicken, which the crew could be watching on the main screen at the start of an episode.
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Re:The Orville (Score:4, Insightful)
They should just allow The Orvile to use actual Trek artwork and names....
Anyone else thinks that feels more Star Trek than Discovery*?
*which is not bad and there shouldn't be a difference between classical technobabble explaining away everything or some magic mushroom stuff doing the same... but it feels more fantasy than Trek usually was.
Completely agree with you. And my main issue with Discovery is less its fantasy tilt and has more to do with everyone being a screw-up, antagonists and protagonists alike. There isn't a single respectable character in that show, a show which belongs to a series that is supposedly based on human excellence.
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Discovery is set a decade before the Original Series, at time when people definitely were a lot less perfect and well adjusted than in the TNG era.
I'm surprised that you would make that criticism while praising The Orville though. Much of the humour on that show is about how flawed the characters are, e.g. the captain and his ex-wife's marital problems or the domestic issues Bortas has in multiple episodes.
In fact the whole thing is much more in-your-face about social issues than Discovery was. Discovery ba
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You realize that Star Trek: Enterprise came before Star Trek: Discovery, right? Also, are you trying to argue that a decade before Star Trek: TOS people were just so radically differently that they'd readily support an obviously evil person from the mirror universe with a policy of getting stuff done, no matter the cost? Or that Spock would wholly ignore his ad
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"...people were just so radically differently that they'd readily support an obviously evil person from the mirror universe with a policy of getting stuff done, no matter the cost?"
*raising finger*
*thinks*
*turns around and walks away*
Nope, not going there.
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Plus, the B is Excelsior Class.
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Sure, but in The Orville, they're 'flawed' as in 'they're people,' not as in 'they're war criminals.'
That said, I liked Discovery too, and I think it suffered from it's tumultuous pre-production woes. I'm hoping it finds it's footing and improves.
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Please note I am putting no value-judgement on any of what is to follow:
I am so sorry I have to bring you the bad news. The behind the scenes news for season two of Discovery is just as tumultuous as season one was.
The first 5 episodes of season two were finished and shown to test audiences. 80% hated it. So the spent 5 weeks re-shooting things to retool those episodes. This used up the majority of season two budget. The show runners were fired and new show runners have been brought in and have to produce 5
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Much of the humour on that show is about how flawed the characters are ...
One can be personally flawed yet still be (or act) professional and honorable. I think The Orville manages to pull that off better than ST:D. In addition, exploring personal flaws, weaknesses and strengths is often more interesting, especially as they usually drive other behaviors, personal and professional.
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Discovery is set a decade before the Original Series
Yes, but unfortunately the characters seem to be drawn from the 1960s given their belief in magic mushrooms.
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The Orville was okay for a first season. There were a lot of very common sci-fi tropes in there, almost standard stories. For the second season they will need to be more original.
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Yes. They had those "wholesome" stories that wanted to make us think about where our society is headed and crime and punishment and live and death... just like Next Generation. ( http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/... [wikia.com] being the worst of them!) ST:TNG often has been ridiculed for those type of plots and it was amazing that within a few episodes, The Orville picked up exactly those aspects of Star Trek. And dropped all those penis jokes instead.
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Agreed (though so far I've only watched the first half of the first season).
Hopefully the first season, of which 8 out of 12 were written by Seth MacFarlane, was just him setting up the characters and the tone, and top SF writers will be brought in to improve the plots in later series. This would mirror TNG, but be the reverse of TOS, where early use of top SF writers saw it peak early.
Seth was obviously a frustrated trek captain and writer, who got enough clout to "make it so".
Its comedy element som
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It's got potential if it could be a bit more serious. Looking forward to season 2.
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It's got potential if it could be a bit more serious.
Yes, or at least less uncomfortable mixing of drama and comedy. A good number of substantially comedic episodes would be fine, as long as they're actually funny.
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Anyone else thinks that feels more Star Trek than Discovery*?
Sure. Lots of people do. Had discussions about this on Facebook with people I know. But there are a lot of Trek haters here on Slashdot or people who hate all Trek after The Next Gen so I wouldn't recommend using Slashdot as a sounding board on this.
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I dislike Discovery to the point I have stopped watching. The Orville is great though. Looks like CBS is just a tad envious of the success of The Orville.
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The Star Trek universe is based on ideals over 50 year old. As they use the universe more, more and more stuff gets Retcon into it, often rather sloppily.
It is more then just technology and special effect. In "2001 A Space Odyssey" The characters were cool and rational much like Vulcan's in Star Trek. Because we more or less assumed that we would adapt to be rational to work better with technology vs. Having technology designed better to deal with our crazy human nonsense. The humans in Star Trek while no
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The Star Trek universe is based on ideals over 50 year old. As they use the universe more, more and more stuff gets Retcon into it, often rather sloppily.
It is more then just technology and special effect. In "2001 A Space Odyssey" The characters were cool and rational much like Vulcan's in Star Trek. Because we more or less assumed that we would adapt to be rational to work better with technology vs. Having technology designed better to deal with our crazy human nonsense. The humans in Star Trek while not as extreme as Vulcan, still used a lot of this reasoning that we have became smarten and more rational with the use of computers.
Taking a look around... Seems like we hoped the future would be like Star Trek and feared it would be like 1984, turns out that "Idiocracy" was right....
With a third grader kid in TNG complaining that he doesn't want to take Calculus, now I think the point they were making was STTNG was set so far in the future so like how Calculus 300 years ago was only for Math PHD's and today it is taught in High School, that in the next 300 years we can tech this to 3rd graders is kinda silly. But this fits on the vision we will adapt to the changes as fast as the changes expand.
The Orville dumped this universe. While they are smart people, they are also people who are street smart, or just kinda off dull. They may be good at their job, but that is about it.
Yeaaaahhhhkindof... The Enterprise was the flagship filled with the smartest of the smarties and the bravest and best and everything. The question of how normal people would behave in the same universe would still have room for the Orville.
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Why wouldn't people want to live in a virtual world? If robots can care for your brain, knock yourself out doing what you want, with entire virtual galaxies you can call your own.
Indeed there's no reason to even make half-assed physics similar to the real world. No need for speed of light, for example. Or gravity. Or pain.
Copy rather than license (Score:2)
They should just allow The Orvile to use actual Trek artwork and names....
Well they would also want Orville to appear on CBS and that would cost money for that switch to be made.
..., inspired by.
As would licensing Scalzi's "Red Shirts" which they seem to be, uhhh,
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The Orvile is better than STD, but it is still not nearly good enough to be watchable. And I don't see how using Trek copyrighted material would improve anything but the lever of disappointment it generates.
don't support CBS (Score:1, Interesting)
I canceled my CBS ALL access after they sent a cease and desist letter to a fan made enterprise exploration game called Stage 9.
"Access" (Score:5, Funny)
>"CBS All Access has greenlit"...
and thus almost nobody will see it.
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For once the rest of the world has better access than the US, via Netflix. It will be you guys headed to the Pirate Bay instead of us.
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I never even finished STD when I had CBS All Access for Big Brother.
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+1 insightful
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If you are going to be a traditionalist there just needs to lights shined in the captains eyes. I think they need at least 5 spotlights shined on them.
Re:I hope it has lots of lens flares (Score:4, Funny)
There are FOUR LIGHTS!!!
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Wow it took over 20 minutes for that setup! I was expecting only 1 minute.
Sounds like a shit idea (Score:2)
--
one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Ge (Score:2)
TOS peeps seem to think it showed how much lower ranks were looked down upon.
A whole episode about how the bridge crew's shit didn't stink...
No thanks you.
Stop it, you've killed the franchise, this won't help.
Thank god for The Orville.
The best way it could work... (Score:2)
...would be to make it like Sealab 2021
PLEASE!!!!! (Score:2)
I hope they dock at Deep Space 9 once in a while and for the love of The Founders please get Armin Shimerman again to voice Quark and Max Grodénchik to voice Rom. If you want to see how good Star Trek comedy can be, watch The Magnificent Ferengi [wikia.com].
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(real) Klingons
About two years ago this happened:
"Their mouth appliances are so bulky it sounds like they're talking with a mouthful of cotton."
"That could work!"
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As long as they stop going back in time.
Just address the rebooted Movies and everything after voyager as an alternate universe or some dream sequence.
I want to see what happens in the quadrants after DS9 and Voyager, I don't want to see a rehash of every character I already know.
Get Worf to be some pencil pusher at HQ and explore outside of the 4 known quadrants.
Scalzi's Redshirts (Score:2)
This sounds a lot like John Scalzi's "Redshirts" - a great novel with characters transitioning in and out of "The Narrative"- Highly recommended.
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Well CARP- I totally missed this- Red Shirts *was* a live action series on FX for 2 seasons!
ST:TAS (Score:2)
This is a terrible idea (Score:2)
That only seems good when made by the idiots who inhabit Hollywood.
They just need to animate it Archer Style (Score:2)
Don't leave that there, Lana!
Do you want Tribbles, Lana?!
Because this is how you get Tribbles.
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"WHAT?!?!"
"Danger Zone."
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Eat a dick, Klingons.
The Orville was already a Star Trek pardody (Score:2)
But ended up being a better Star Trek than we have had in a long time.
Won't ever watch this, either. (Score:2)
As someone else [slashdot.org] was saying, I'd rather watch The Orville. Much more possibilities there, judging by what I've seen so far, and it doesn't shit all over anything or anyone.
Redshirts (Score:2)
They stole my comedy script from 1990! lol
Space, eh, it's a living... (Score:2)
Anyone remember Haultrek? It was a webcomic that sounds a little like what they're planning here--only the authors decided to back away from the Star Trek angle and re-brand it as "Freighter Tails." www.mzzkiti.com
While it kinda died over the years, it had potential.
"But somebody has to haul the stinky stuff too."
Oh look at that (Score:2)
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Star Trek is for fags and fuckin losers.
Is that why you clicked on it?
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There's too many transgenders!! There's too many Muslims!! There's too many FUCKING BROWN PEOPLE!!! *sniff* *sniff* An' they're all comin' a'git me in my sleep!!
Straw man much?
I don't give a crap about the races of the characters, but I do care when every character that doesn't belong to some minority group is either evil, a fuck-up, or both. Benjamin Sisko was an awesome protagonist, but apparently somewhere along the way the writers forgot how to write engaging characters and now only make a checklist of diversity requirements without actually making the characters interesting. Diversity is fine, but when that's all that a character has that character becomes a o
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There's too many transgenders!! There's too many Muslims!! There's too many FUCKING BROWN PEOPLE!!! *sniff* *sniff* An' they're all comin' a'git me in my sleep!!
Straw man much?
I don't give a crap about the races of the characters, but I do care when every character that doesn't belong to some minority group is either evil,
I hope that IS a minority....
I don't want to see a gay couple making out in an SF series, but I don't want to see ANYONE who should rather get a room there either. Even the decontamination gel fan service in the Enterprise pilot was unnecessary and misplaces. as are the space mushrooms.
Benjamin Sisko was an awesome protagonist, but apparently somewhere along the way the writers forgot how to write engaging characters and now only make a checklist of diversity requirements without actually making the charact
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I hope that IS a minority....
I don't want to see a gay couple making out in an SF series, but I don't want to see ANYONE who should rather get a room there either. Even the decontamination gel fan service in the Enterprise pilot was unnecessary and misplaces. as are the space mushrooms.
I've been watching Star Trek Voyager on Netflix lately - For some reason I never watched it during it's run.
What is interesting is how a series with the first ST Woman Captain, and many different women in the command structure, such as B'lanna the engineer, managed to make the female leads credible, likeable and relatable. I have been incredibly impressed on how Mulgrew's character Janeway, managed to be both a credible commander, and yet still unmistakably feminine. She deserves any and all the accolad
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Kes *shudder*
The most boring character ever. And the only idea the producers had to make her a bit less boring were long blonde hair....
And I don't want to argue over Janeways feminity.... I'd rather remember Kiry Nerys in a dress on the piano in Vic Fontaine's bar....
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What is interesting is how a series with the first ST Woman Captain, and many different women in the command structure, such as B'lanna the engineer, managed to make the female leads credible, likeable and relatable. I have been incredibly impressed on how Mulgrew's character Janeway, managed to be both a credible commander, and yet still unmistakably feminine. She deserves any and all the accolades she may have received.
I hadn't thought of that aspect of the show. What is striking is how it wasn't a terribly big deal and didn't disrupt the story. Nowadays when they womanize a series it is thrown in your face.
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What is interesting is how a series with the first ST Woman Captain, and many different women in the command structure, such as B'lanna the engineer, managed to make the female leads chttps://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=12813097&cid=57542709#redible, likeable and relatable. I have been incredibly impressed on how Mulgrew's character Janeway, managed to be both a credible commander, and yet still unmistakably feminine. She deserves any and all the accolades she may have received.
I hadn't thought of that aspect of the show. What is striking is how it wasn't a terribly big deal and didn't disrupt the story. Nowadays when they womanize a series it is thrown in your face.
Exactly. And they did it in a very convincing fashion. There were some references to sexism, especially by the Kazon humanoids, but they were handled well and matter of factly. All of it worked together. And it couldn't be made today.. Today's version would be the woman dominating the men, with an attitude of superiority, yet if a male disagreed with them, they would have to visit the ships psych doctor because of severe mental anguish. there would be episodes where it was found out that a male crew member
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Oh bullshit, STD has a ton of straight white male characters who aren't portrayed as evil or incompetent. Let's see, there's....ummm....ummm....uh....ORANGE MAN BAD!
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I actually think the bulk of the problems with Discovery isn't due race. It is just a story that doesn't fit into the Star Trek Universe. It seems more of a plot for its own sci-fi show, but they realized it sucked to much to make any money on it, so they just put the Star Trek logo on it, and changed the names of the alians around to match the names of Star Trek aliens, And made sure all the good guys space ships had a saucer section and nacells.
For the most part diversity in shows has been getting much b
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I only watched one episode after a friend convinced me to watch it after we had lunch. It was just dumb and nothing was working. The first obvious thing was that it was too hi-def so that it had too much contrast; it seriously reminded me of daytime soaps shot on video instead of film. The CGI was obvious and had the feeling of a video game. I know I didn't understand the backstory, but none of the plot made sense, the motivations were silly, the dialogue was awful. And just like Enterprise and Voyager i
Its the plot from dark matter (Score:2)
It was a rather shameless rip off of the plot from dark matter on sci-fi.
Right down to the asian being a war leader in an alternate universe. So shameless it was funny.
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Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge would like to have a word with you.
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The implication is still that the population didn't need/have glasses.
Doesn't Kirk have glasses [wikia.com] in The Voyage Home?
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Which he sold as an antique... The point was that he valued the classic idea of having reading glasses, not that they were required.
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I thought Kirk got reading glasses because he was allergic to the drug that cured the nearsightedness that comes with age.
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Yes. He was allergic to Retinox-5, or whatever it was called.
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