Make it so: a ST Picard series!

With Patrick Stewart no less! Continuing his story. Yes, on CBS All Access, so it isn’t perfect, but I’ll take it.
I wonder if anyone else will be joining from TNG? Surely at least some cameos?

https://mobile.twitter.com/SirPatStew/status/1025840545216823296

I was hoping Michael Dorn's idea for a "Worf" series would be made. But I'll remain open minded about this, for now.

After watching the video I hope that the "he may not be the same Picard you remember" isn't taken to an extreme. Of course he's 20 years older and many things have happened but if he is fundamentally different then they will just ruin the character. And, sad to say, given recent Hollywood tendencies there is probably a better than even chance that that is exactly what they will do. I hope I'm wrong.

It will be very interesting in what kind of focus the show will have.

Is Picard still in Star Fleet? Is he maybe an Admiral now? Will it focus on more political and strategic sides? Or is Star Fleet someplace that allows old admirals to have a front line duty?
Or is he retired, and solves crimes with a trusty side kick?

Still won't watch. Unless the show dropped their SJW horse poo, I'll sadly miss Stewart.

God I'm tired of the SJW #%&*$# excuse moaning. Welcome to the real world where homephobia and racism isn't the accepted norm anymore.

Star Trek has always been on the cutting edge of "SJW", from Kirk kissing Uhura, to gay main characters on DS9. How the heck can you like Star Trek and cry about SJW when it's had that element since the 60s?
Roddenberry was a huge liberal hippie communist, and Star Trek reflects that at the core.

Agreed and happy bday EAF!
They did a great job with ST Discovery, I’m excited to see what they do here. An ongoing story really developing Picard should be interesting. I’m SO glad they didn’t do some kind of “the usual” prequel young Picard show, as seems to be the trend. I like the idea of an older lead and finally moving into the future again.

I'm NEVER GOING TO STOP. Guess what? We don't need stupid BS shoved down our throats constantly and we DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE with what the LEFT WING(or RIGHT WING) MANIACS want to shove into our brains. Some of us think for ourselves and believe that stuff is not as big a deal as it supposedly is, and we don't need to be preached at constantly about the merits of this that or whatever. We have our ideals and we keep to ourselves, and we would much prefer if other folks would stop harping about nonsense and tainting our literature, film, and arts with idealism and instead focus on the plot and not make things issues that don't need to be made issues.

Got it?

THAT is why we don't watch this nonsense. Because it artificially gets in the way of the experience when it shouldn't be there.

Who's more racist? Someone who quietly goes about their day, being polite to everyone they meet, treating everyone kindly and simply having conversations and performing actions because they are part of their routine...

-or-

That guy or gal who runs around shouting racism this racism that and how someone is so racist or homophobic.

Guess what?

Choice #2 is clearly more racist. Same as those who harp about affirmative action or including... a certain social type to make them "more represented." Well guess what? By forcing white this, black that, gay this, straight that, into a show simply to make sure it is represented is more racist/sexist/genderist/preferencist(I made some words up), than making stuff as natural as it should be.

When every show/writer conspires with one another to include a certain class or preference in every show as a must and shouts that those that don't are being "ist," it isn't the others that aren't that are "ist," but it is those that are conspiring to make it an issue and representation in the first place.

We're sick and tired of it. We aren't Harrison Bergeron's father, who need a constant buzzer in our ears to curb our thoughts when we get an idea, or give us a reminder when we start to think about something that perhaps we should think a different way--the preferred way, the preached way, the way that we must believe and if we don't comply and obey then we're the scum of the earth.

Now do you get it?


THIS is why we make an issue now of shows that are pulling this crap when they are doing more harm than good because they are stifling the ideals of freedom and unity by being fake about creating unity when they are only furthering the divide.


Why is there so much anger and hatred in society? Because nobody can go about their own damn business in their own daily lives because a certain segment of our population has to make an issue out of everything.


Call my post hypocritical, call me a hypocrit, but Star Trek's producer and creator, the reboot, said explicitly he was going to go out of the way to irritate and piss off those who don't want to be force fed his agenda. That's our problem. That's our issue. We want to watch Star Trek, for all the awesomeness that it was, even Roddenberry's utopia vision and everything else that the original series began with, because that made Star Trek what it was. And some of us, like myself, are quite open minded to many things and can never be put into one box because we think absolutely for ourselves, and when we witness nonsense, refuse to be silenced and will speak our minds because life isn't black and white, right or left, but instead should be consumed in large doses of common sense. Something current reality is clearly lacking.


[I guess this should be moved to PWEC now.]

It will stop when the television and movie industry stops going out of there way to substitute their patented brand of anti-white racism and and anti-heterosexual bigotry for good storytelling.

so.... never

No, it hasn't. Not "social justice warriors" because that is a modern term that didn't exist prior to "Discovery". SJW isn't about equality, it's about dominance. It's not about acceptance but adoptance. You can't just be willing to allow gay marriage you have to embrace it. You say that is overstatement, no because there is already a movement that calls a man a homophobe if he refuses to date a "transgender woman" (IE a man pretending to be a woman) as well as a movement to now normalize pedophilia.

Modern ST, as well as most of what comes out of Hollywood today, has "jumped the shark" on equality and now gone into full on advocacy of the idea that what is only a small segment of society is the norm and that the other 99% of us are all outliers.

A lot of BS about a tv show none of us know anything about.
If you don't want to like it, fine, but no need to send a thread about a tv show to PWEC. Not everything has to be a soapbox moment.

Okay... Phasers on heavy stun, lock em in the brig till they all calm down.


It's a TV show. Nothing more. We've all got far more important things to worry about.

Such as reading/writing comments about a TV show on an internet forum . . .?

Naw, I'm just not worrying about it.

I made my life a LOT easier a couple of decades ago when I discovered without a doubt that the vast majority of the Hollywood system has a huge Left wing political bias. So whenever I watch any movie or tv show I already know what to expect.

See if we can get this back on track...


My concern is not with the writers making Picard gay or transgender etc. (although I guess that could happen) but with them making him bitter, petty, drunken, broken, a liar and/or a cheat.

Picard was always of high moral character, ricking his life, his ship and his crews lives for principles in many cases. I would not want to see that "legacy" erased. It wouldn't be believable, to me.

A lot can happen in 20 years, so I have no real qualms about seeing some huge changes in Picard. it depends on how much of the canon their keep for the time between TNG and then, like the DS9 story.

The Dominion War was not the Federation (and espesially Star Fleet) finest moment, where a lot of it's darker sides finally came out.

Then a lot depending on what happened in both his private life, and with his crew.

The main issue is that audiences have changed a lot over the past 20 years or so.

People are usually more interested in seeing relatable real-world characters (ie having both good qualities and flaws) than in seeing prim and proper characters with no flaws.

I'd like to see him start a noble speech... then say "f' it, I'm told old for this.. open fire!"

(I've always prefered Sisko as a leader....)

True, and I have no problem with that. My fear is a Picard who is all flaws and few/no good qualities. Hollywood has a tendency to go from one extreme to another.

That is, I would argue, a bit of a storytelling myth and a Hollywood conceit. Reading history and biography, it is very rare for men to change that dramatically, and those exceptions generally revolve (and in a positive way) around some sort of religious experience/conversation, Otherwise, men may mature or even regress as they go through life, but the fundamental nature of their character seldom changes. A person who was truly selflessly committed to principles may change the principles to which he is committed, but is unlikely to turn into a cynic or a cheat.

+1

First teaser released:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3om4V_-Y0Q

Looks pretty good F4U. It's a shame it will only be on CBS all Access.


Wheels

That's two Star Trek series now on CBS All Access. They are pushing hard to bring in the Trekkies especially after the last JJ Abrams movie was such a dud.

Picard will be on Amazon Prime everywhere except the US.


Apparently the folks at CBS just hate Americans.

I’d rather it was on netflix, but it’s ok on cbs. I sub during the run of the season and then cancel. Just like HBO, DC and will for SW on Disney, when they all have good shows year around, I’ll sub at the end of each season and binge in a month.

Lets see, you have to pay for one service to see both Discovery and Picard.
We have to pay for *TWO* services to see these show now. Amazon Prime + Netflix.

QuIt your #%&*$# whining :P

But many of us, myself included, already have Netflix and Amazon Prime. Hence we have to pay for not one service but a THIRD service.

I was at Balticon, a Sci Fi/Fantasy convention this weekend and during one of the panels a guy named George Hrab pointed out that "All Good Things" happened just over 25 years ago (05/23/1994). When we're with future Picard that is supposed to be taking place 25 years in the future. In this series it is supposed to be happening about 25 years after the end of the series as well. I agree with the observation made in the panel that Picard has aged a lot better in the new series universe than the one in "All Good Things". ;-)

Elf

Lets face it, the man was born looking 50. Later in life that works FOR you. LOL Good for him!
He's certainly in good shape. He's very youthful when you see him speaking at conventions and interviews.
I hope we have him around for a long time.

Make it so, January 24th!



S Q U E A L!

Video unavailable for me. Must be a regional thing.

That rock formation at about 1:22 looks familiar!

In the first episode of ST:TNG wasn't Bones 140 years old or something and still having some function in Star Fleet?
Here, both Picard and Riker seem a bit washed up a mere 20 years later.
..but I guess dealing with Wesley every week would do that to you, and the TOS crew were inherently much tougher.

Really looking forward to this...

I'm not watching any trailers. I don't want to spoil it. I think this is going to be excellent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FySrgrKJguE

Thanks!

This video pretty much sums up my expectations for "Picard" as well. And despite the title, it isn't all just the modern political tie ins either. It's the destruction of a beloved character.



https://youtu.be/iYtyQAXkUkc

Still not watching trailers and couldn’t care less about others’ opinions. I think for myself, I’ll form my own, good or bad.

Amen brother Kryptonite.

I couldn't give a #%&*$# what a whining trekkie thinks, they are a bunch of sad entitlement-wannabe dorks nerdraging. They cursed and screamed about Discovery - which turned out to be the second best Trek series ever (after DS9). I'm pretty sure Picard will be even better than Discovery

I agree with this philosophy with the caveat that I also keep tabs on the viewer ratings for my favorite show because if the ratings suck then it most likely means the show that I really love will be cancelled. So in that specific case I DO care what the opinion of others are.

Excellent first episode IMO! This show took storytelling to a new level for ST. The only disappointing part is waiting until next week for more! The show has a very personal story going on as well as some major events to cover. The previews at the end looked awesome.
Patrick Stewart is the man.

Was very good, will be waiting each week for each new episode!

(and I always skip the previews )

I hear ya, but they got me this time. LOL

The point about writers in general being lazy and spending their time destroying old franchises vs being truly creative/constructive (whether within or without a previously designed story universe) is spot on. It is the nutshell of my complaint about the new Star Wars, the last few movies in the MCU, etc.

Not really a Star Trek fan but it was enjoyable enough.

At least Simon Pegg can't show up and ruin this one.

Episode two keeps up the great work.

I love the universe building it does and fleshing out the storyline.

CBS renewed it for a second season very quickly so the execs obviously loved what they saw. I'll be starting the series soon myself.

Yeah, being able to sell the rights off the bat to Amazon Prime probably recouperated alot of the production cost off at once, making it less of a risk to order the next season.

Watched episode one on YouTube.

It was good to see Picard again, and Data as well. But it seems they could have done more to "de-age" Data, he didn't look right.

It was entertaining but I didn't really feel like I was watching Star Trek other than Picard being in it and mentions of The Federation.

I want to see the rest of the story to see how it plays out but I'm not compelled to enough to pay for the privilege, so once all the episodes are released I'll get a free week of (or pay for a month of) service and binge watch it.

And did the boyfriend in "daughters" apartment really say "cool" and "dude"? Trek has never in the past used dated colloquial phrases, they've made it a point to not understand them (A leak? I'm not detecting a leak) hundreds of years past their common usage today. Little things like this are annoying. As were the solar panels on the Golden Gate Bridge. A civilization that has harnessed practically unlimited power that can drive starships at billions of miles per hour has no need for solar panels. But it's the PC thing to do.

And the people who were responsible for the opening music for "Enterprise", the ones who were castigated to no end for that choice, must be feeling pretty smug when they hear the opening music to Picard. UGH.

Watched the first one last week, will watch the next one tonight... I'm not a massive Star Trek fan, but have to say, the first one hooked me straight away. I really enjoyed it!

That seems to be the thing right now, make Star Wars for non-Star Wars fans, Star Trek for non-Star Trek fans . . . oh well.

Still have DS9 on DVD . . .

How is this not Star Trek for Star Trek fans?

I think you confuse the masses of star Trek fans with the extremely vocal ultra-minority which complains about everything under the moon. They do *NOT* represent Trek Fans.

Oh, please. All of the references made to earlier Star Trek episodes should tell you this was made for fans of the show. I'm a Star Trek fan. This was very good.

Oh please, just referencing events that happened earlier in the series doesn't automatically make it "Star Trek".

I remain to be convinced. It may turn out okay but I doubt that it will ever be what I would have preferred in advancing the Trek storyline.*

It has Trek characters, Trek references, Trek technology etc. but so far it doesn't look or sound like "Traditional Star Trek". To some I suppose that is the point, that is what draws them to this. But not to me.


* I would rather have seen a new starship with new capabilities that make the galaxy a slightly smaller place, a few new aliens but don't ignore the old adversaries either. Captained by Geordi maybe? Picard could be a top admiral, Riker an older captain or vice admiral, and maybe not have central parts but just occasional scenes. Definitely have Worf. A few from Voyager or Deep Space 9 occasionally. Fill out the main cast with new characters. But that's just me.

"Traditional Star Trek" only existed for 2 seasons in the 60s. Nothing since has been "traditional Star trek". They had to #%&*$# Gerry to get TNG to be a halfway decent show. DS9 became a great show to ditching most things from TNG. Each show has been different.

Each series has been different in it's own way without throwing away the fundamental nature of Trek. Until now.

"Because it was no longer Starfleet! Starfleet had slunk from its duties... the decision to abandon those people we had sworn to save was not just dishonorable, it was downright criminal!" - Picard

Roddenberry's vision was buried with that line. There have been "cracks" shown in Starfleet before, but that statement was an absolute condemnation of the entire organization.

ST: TOS ran for 3 seasons.

In the "Star Trek" future one would also assume that the elderly would be "rejuvenated" so that they don't look like 100 year-old bald fossils. After all, "Bones" could diagnose and cure most any injury with his hand-held medical instruments. I for one would like to see some young blood on the screen, male or female, no matter. But please, retire the old farts.

Star Trek Discovery is excellent and has a new batch of actors.

That really is neither here nor there. Given that it is in the Star Trek universe, there were going to be some references to the older shows, but fan service is not the same thing as capturing the spirit of the show. From the previews and the from what has been described here, it does not look or sound like Star Trek (just like the new Star Wars trilogy did not really look, sound, or feel like Star Wars in a lot of subtle ways, or the JJ Abrams Star Wars reboot did not look, sound, or feel like Star Trek).

The basic premise of the show, that Star Fleet is corrupt or decayed at its core, inherently is not Star Trek. (Before anyone says anything, yes I know both TNG and DS9 explored the idea that Star Fleet made mistakes and was, at times, vulnerable to conspiracies from within, but those were always presented as aberrations, in part due to external manipulation, not something at the heart of Star Fleet). As an American, Star Fleet (from TOS through DS9) was always a sci fi stand-in for the United States, not perfect, but generally well-intentioned and getting it right in the end. A show that makes the good guys the bad guys is not something I am likely to be interested in.

I disagree.

Star Fleet and it's members not trusting it's enemies is nothing new. Kirk hated the Klingons with a passion, O'Brian the same with the cardassians and so forth.

Members of Star Fleet has also on plenty occations gone above and beyond to keep conflict going or start it. A cabal of klingons, romulan and star fleet personell was more than willing to sacrifice Kirk to keep a war going between the klingons and Federation.

(and the UFP is much more like the UN than the US)

Thank you for sharing this. I'm saddened that Stewart decided to frolick in politics and seems to me he doesn't "get" a large segment of the population. I'm frankly tired of shows cramming politics or "woke" bullpuckey down our throats. Good stories, good plots, good characters--that's what I want to be entertained. I'll make up my own darn mind about everything else on my own time.

Stewart also recently became a US citizen. I wonder now what his real motivations were behind that move?

thankfully you are in a minority - plenty of us who don't care about the "politics" and enjoy a cracking good show.

Thankfully I'm part of the silent majority. We lurk. We exist. And we'll let you know what we think when we vote, and there's little you can do about us.

Shows should entertain, not preach.

WTF
Keep it to the PWEC forum guys.

Oh come on, there's nothing PWEC been said. I think adults can acknowledge that there is a political component to Star Trek, especially the modern versions.

+1


Even ST:TOS has some episodes that were quite political for its time.

Another strong episode I felt, I like the character building of Picard and the pacing isn't dictated by the need to tell a full story in one episode.

Taxes...plain and simple. Almost every Brit or Canadian who has gained U.S. Citizenship (Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, etc.) does so, at least in part to escape the outrageous taxes of a cradle to grave economic system.

So, next time you think U.S. taxes are outrageous (and I believe they are), set up residency in England or Canada for a couple of years. You will appreciate America a bit more.

BTW, lest anyone think I'm bashing our British or Canadian brothers and sisters, think again. I love both countries and their peoples. My father's entire family is British and I am in love with that culture. I have travelled to Canada dozens of times, and find the residents there to be among the friendliest and most thoughtful people anywhere in the world.

I just like to keep more of my paycheck than either country permits.

Shatner is still solely a Canadian.

Good episode. Boldly going forward into your nightname in the case of Picard.

At least they got the obligatory 'Star Wars bar' scene out of the way in the last episode.
Now, they seem to have realised that there was a bit of a mix-up in casting between ST:Picard and the next LOTR movie and have killed off 'Elnor'.

Lots of information and pulling of threads together in this episode.

Got a free month of CBS All Access so I watched the series. In some ways it was a little better than I expected but mostly it was still a disappointment. Picard at least had not lost the character that made him Picard.

It seems they had a checklist for each episode where they had to get in a couple of "f**ks" and at least one "G-D" in the first 15 minutes of each episode to fill their "coarse language" quota, none of which advanced the scene at all. When Kirk said "Let's get the hell out of here", the only time he ever cursed in the entire series, in "City on the Edge of Forever" the very rarity of the curse gave emphasis to his anguish over Edith Keelers death. Cursing just to have curse words in the series, to be modern and edgy, is just stupid.

Likewise the gratuitous Icheb eye removal scene was over the top.

Starfleet is further denigrated throughout the series: ordering Rios former captain to murder the androids. All of this can't be blamed on one Romulan mole (Commodore Oh) as others in Starfleet obviously went along with all of this. By the way, is the entire upper echelon of Starfleet now comprised of females? Sure seemed so.

I did like the Rios character, but he's the only new character in the series that appealed to me.

Finally there's Data. Of course I understand Brent Spiner not wanting to come back to play Data at his age (but it could have been explained) but there is no "in universe" explanation for killing Data at the end of the series. Bruce Maddox and Soong have perfected the ultimate android body that fully mimics a human and they have Data's memories backed up on a "hard drive".... doesn't the obvious solution scream out to everyone? Why not load those memories into a new Data body, one that allows him to finally be (almost) completely human? They could have even decided to give him an appropriately aged body making it believable for Spiner to play him again. Even if he didn't want to continue on the series, he could have chosen to stay with his "children". It just made no sense to do what they did, it was Picard playing Kevorkian with a patient who was curable.

Data could also go the Bicentennial Man route.

I have not seen Picard yet but it's obvious based on what I've read from both critics and fans that this is not your "grandfather's" Star Trek anymore. It seems like Star Trek has now gone through as many stylistic/tone changes as the Star Wars franchise.

If they had done as I suggest he would have been doing so, as Picards new "android" body isn't immortal.

Normally when sharing a YouTube video I might say ignore the comments, but in this case the comments are the point of sharing the video. I am a bit amazed and pleasingly so that practically every single comment I've read on this video agrees with my sentiment concerning the cursing in Picard / Discovery.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqn0WhG53uA

Just in case the comments change (and they of course will) here's some I am referring to:

It was a good show, not a great one, but worth watching. A lot didn't make sense, I was never endeared to the characters and I got REALLY tired of hearing "JL". The effects are top notch. Certainly not Patrick's best work.
It's funny how old he portrays Picard but then you see him in an interview and the man is very youthful and energetic. LOL
I liked the overall story of a flawed, more believable Star Fleet. I always like stories like that. It was enjoyable seeing the old characters included. The nostalgia was a nice touch rather than something the show relied upon.
I also liked seeing the universe fleshed out some outside of the usual. In most shows/movies you were either Star Fleet (or equivalent), a scientist of some kind, a farmer or religious something or other. There was a little more "every day" in this one.
I know DS9 had people coming and going, but it was still mostly militant or really annoying.
Certainly not nearly as good as Discovery, especially season 2 of it, but I think the 2nd season may prove to be better for Picard as well. They've gotten some loose ends tied up, satisfied fan curiosity about most old characters and can now move on.
There's still some other characters that they can include in the next season, as I'm sure is the plan. I doubt they actually snubbed those actors but are spreading them out some.

Yes, the swearing was totally out of place in a ST series.
Also, there was far too much 2020 vernacular. I was almost expecting Rios to have rap music playing when manouverring the ship in the battle scenes.

Ah, and character development. In these short series (and ST:D was the same), this entails giving each character a single traumatic experience that explains their entire subsequent behaviour.

Lots of glaring plot holes, eg:


All in all, ST:P was utter rubbish IMHO.

Now you kids get off my lawn.

It is much more entertaining, and believable, to hear Geordi puzzle over the term "take a leak" than to hear 24th century youngsters use terms like "cool" and "dude".



Very shallow thinking and writing there. Speaking of STD, I watched season 2 recently and the entire cast could die off and I would never miss any of them EXCEPT for Pike. He made season 2 bearable, but just.



I had forgot about how destitute they had supposedly become, you're right. Big mistake.



Pretty much, yes.

Each their own, I found ST:Picard very enjoyable. On par with season 2 of Discovery.

Yes STP is on par with STD. They both are very disappointing. IMO.

we've long since agreed to disagree on this

Whether someone loves or hates Picard I can’t say I’m surprised to see such a highly divided fanbase when you consider just how different Picard is from previous ST series.

I’ve seen the same phenomenon happen with the Disney Star Wars movies and also the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.

True.

Trek always had a certain "vibe" if you will. These new series don't have that same "vibe", as has been detailed in posts here by me and others. For some that's okay and for some others, like me, it lessens the franchise.

And for other it broadens and enriches the franchise.

Yes, this is also true!


The bottom line is whenever a science fiction franchise goes through some major changes you are bound to get both haters and lovers from the fanbase.

That's just a different way of saying "appealing to a wider audience" and it's a financial decision, not a "maintain the integrity of the genre" decision.

You can do that with anything if you change it enough, but then it is no longer what made it special.

For example if you wanted more people into opera, you might try adding in some pop/rock music. But then would it still be opera?

The latest offerings under the Star Trek banner have diluted the original look and feel of franchise with Star Wars action, soap opera interpersonal relationships, Game of Thrones violence and Wolf of Wall Street language.

Yes it appeals to a wider audience and that is the shame of it.

I'm just glad that there are hundreds of rewatchable hours worth of episodes and movies of Trek that pre-date the "broadening and enrichment" of the franchise that began with JJ Abrams involvement.

Yes, it seemed a mash up of various popular shows, but I thought the Game of Thrones influence was the sexual frission between those brother and sister Romulan spies.
Whatever happened to Narek? I don't remember him getting iced, so was half expecting him to turn up on the bridge of the La Sirena for the final scene love-in having been forgiven by Soji. I can't be bothered to watch it again to find out.

I'm not really complaining about Seven of Nine being turned into a MILF version of Xena:Warrior Princess, only the way it was done. Butchering Icheb like that was really showing contempt for legacy ST.

Not really, they're Romulans and watching the Federation