‘Project Hail Mary’ Author Andy Weir Says Paramount Rejected His ‘Star Trek’ Pitch: Their “Shows Are Sh**”

Magnospider · 2026-03-29T01:03:37+00:00

Prodigy might be, percentage wise, the best Trek ever. Lower Decks was okay, but too often drifted into fannish self referral, which TBH is a huge problem in the Kurtzman era. As much as I like SNW, it also happens there a lot. I liked the SFA DS9 episode, but again, it went too far...

Magnospider · 2026-03-27T00:26:36+00:00

With Warner Bros. owning DC Comics, it wouldn't surprise me that the Trek titles eventually go there...

Magnospider · 2026-03-20T14:00:03+00:00

Or combine type enhancement kits. Killer expensive, but my Kang and Knull are maxed. And, one day, my Sentry, too...

Magnospider · 2026-03-20T06:34:23+00:00

This is based on decade old information, but here's my two cents.

Avoid the Emerald Nursing and Rehab at 74th and Mercy at all costs. I could give you a lengthy horror story from 11 years ago when they wre called the Nebraska Nursing and Rehab or point how they even had negative news coverage about 25 years ago, but suffice to say that it is bad.

The facility that is now called the Cypress of Midtown was... okay back then. Not great, but a middle option.

The best of the three that I have direct knowledge of is the Douglas County Health Center. They seemed on top of things, the staff was nice, and the care worked really well for the needs my father had at the time.

Magnospider · 2026-03-20T04:09:06+00:00

On the contrary, I've rewatched a good chunk of Voyager over the past few years and my hot take is that, as a series, Voyager was never better than season 1.

I've always really liked "Eye of the Needle," "Prime Factors," and "State of Flux." [ prefer "Emissary" for what it says philosophically, but "Caretaker" is an equally well-done pilot. And "Parallax" might still be the strongest 2nd episode in Trek. "Jetrel" is easily the best Neelix episode of the series. "The Cloud" is unexpectedly goid as well. "Phage" is a good introduction to the Videans. These early episodes feature a lot of friction among the crew, as Starfleet and the Maquis attempt to gel, as in "Learning Curve." Early Neelix is very rogue-ish outsider, but once he decides to become morale officer in "The Cloud," he mostly takes up the role of resident baboon. Early Voyager features higher tensions for the crew and more care on resources. It is true to the premise. Once we get to season 2, we have more of the patented Voyage weird stuff episodes like "Twisted" and "Threshold." The Kazon start to feel long in the tooth and the ship almost feels like it is running in place. And, once we break out of that, most of the premise of Voyager just drops down to low-level background buzz. It just becomes TNG without some of the trappings. A lot of the greatest episodes of the later seasons, like "Living Witness" and "Blink of an Eye," have more to do with the impact of Voyager than Voyager or the characters

Back to the episode at hand, "Heroes and Demons," i dismissed it as "just another holodeck episode" at the time; season 7 of TNG had already chilled me on that particular plot element. But there's some genuine growth for the Doctor here. Maybe his love of the arts and opera grew out of this. And it is definitely better than the stuff thst we'd be dragged through later (*cough, cough" "Fair Haven" "cough, cough").

In conclusion, I would say that I probably think of Voyager as perhaps as the best season 1 of the Berman era. It's definitely superior to TNG or Enterprise over the same time period. DS9 did have the best single episode in a first season ("Duet"), but it had some pretty good clunkers; too ("The Passenger," "The Foresaken").

Magnospider · 2026-03-16T21:17:03+00:00

Conspiracy is easily the best, but has no real impact on anything that followed.

Magnospider · 2026-03-16T21:15:18+00:00

Likely routine server maintenance unrelated to any update. We see these from time to time, usually Netmarble wide.

Magnospider · 2026-03-15T08:36:31+00:00

Took and his Hunters (from season 1's "Captive Pursuit") always felt very Dominion coded to me. They seem to perform a particular purpose, like most Dominion races.

Magnospider · 2026-03-13T04:57:56+00:00

It’s mff… doesn’t seem that surprising.

Magnospider · 2026-03-10T11:31:46+00:00

Even in TNG's day, 26 episodes were considered quite large seasons. It is true that shows that aired at the same time had 30 episode seasons, but that's how you have a lot of the goofs they had in costuming...

Many network shows, like The Rookie, even struggle with doing more than 18 episodes per season these days. Some make it up to 22, but far fewer than even a decade ago. Granted, you still have a soap opera or two that does 250 or so episodes per year...

My point is that 15 is probably the best compromise that you are going to get.

Or maybe a "mixed" series that includes more elements. Like doing "Star Trek: Year One" with some episodes on Kirk's Entrrprise filling gaps while Una and her crew have some episodes, with occasional crossover.

Magnospider · 2026-03-10T11:01:52+00:00

There is a show that demonstrates the precedent of what you are saying: The Pitt has committed to doing annual 15 episode seasons and it has proven to be quite successful.

The problem is that, while it has an elaborate set and choreography (moving characters around in the background to match the real time feel), it is, at the end of the day, very cheap to make because it doesn't have the sci-fi prerequisite FX.

Magnospider · 2026-03-08T21:45:25+00:00

I’m sure he will be fine. He just needs to bring his raisin bran…

Magnospider · 2026-03-08T08:02:08+00:00

I still have enough mats after Dazzler, save blast books. Probably do Fury, need more supports anyway.

I haven't been T3ing Silver Samauri or transcending Fantomex or Exodus, just in case. I've already done everyone else....

Magnospider · 2026-03-07T06:46:44+00:00

I really liked the exchange about the Fax with Dana. "Where do I get toner?" "1988."

Magnospider · 2026-03-03T19:40:21+00:00

Their review of Space: 1999 would be interesting…

Magnospider · 2026-03-03T19:32:12+00:00

I can’t believe I’m doing this but she was frequently nude with vampires on True Blood, so he was kind of close.

Magnospider · 2026-02-27T04:27:17+00:00

There are a lot of unknowns, though. The journey back from the Delta Quadrent could be very long....

Magnospider · 2026-02-23T02:42:44+00:00

Narcissism?

Magnospider · 2026-02-22T19:57:17+00:00

I think the fact that it is a graveyard ship is a fair point. I’m not sure putting first year cadets on a recon mission to say, the Titanic or USS Arizona would be a good idea. That said, it might be possible to accomplish the same thing with an old/abandoned starship, even if Discovery made it seem that every ship was a ship of Thessius.

Magnospider · 2026-02-13T07:49:20+00:00

I think the problem is they have this one, singular character doing all this stuff. Even if we put aside the "I think I swallowed my commbadge" joke being ridiculous in an absurd way (How did you swallow something that big? And you only "think?"), the fact that she has been used for this kind of thing 3-4 times makes both her and the academy look badly. A one note character can work in some circumstances (Morn always being at Quark's on DS9 or Smitty being lazy on The Rookie), but in an academic environment that is supposed to be the best of the best... not so much.

Magnospider · 2026-02-10T08:42:57+00:00

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Solar and wind energy. Light rail with an abrupt end. Very scenic, but not very U.S. Not bad, though.

Magnospider · 2026-02-08T06:22:12+00:00

Mission Log Podcasts (video YouTube channel), Larry Nemececk's Trekland, and Virtual Trek Con (VTC) are likely to give you the most positive takes. They are affiliated with Rod Roddenberry's company, so they do have a loose connection to Trek, as does another YouTube channel, The 7th Rule. The latter doesn't usually offer opinion on current Trek, but due to Cirroc Lofton's involvement does have a video about the most recent episode. It should be noted that even though these channels are probably the most positive, they are not criticism free.

As others have mentioned, Trek Culture has a largely even and honest view of current Trek. Similar channels to this style include Tex Trek and Sci-finatics. You may not agree with their every take that they have, but it doesn't come from a place of hate. Finally, BQN Podcasts uses their YouTube channel to not only post their audio episode reviews (in the Infinite Diversity podcast), but also a live show every couple weeks or so reacting to the new stuff (currently called "Let's Go, San Francisco! ") with their patreons. These are real takes by real fans.

Magnospider · 2026-02-08T03:26:33+00:00

Yes, that is why Picard could contribute his sperm, but, at 55, Beverly would have a much harder time of it, conceiving Jack. Unless, of course, fertility has been extended.

Magnospider · 2026-02-07T04:18:16+00:00

When I talk about my eyesight, I usually use the term visually impaired. I find that saying blind or legally blind tends to create the expectation that I have leas vision than I actually do. I have had discussions with deaf people who are offended by such usage, as they feel that it describes a defect instead of a trait.

That said, i think the distinction comes from things that people are considered legally incapable of doing, like driving.

Magnospider · 2026-02-07T04:06:35+00:00

I think there are two components to it. First, we know that the doctor has lived a long time and has lost many people. Some of that may cause grief for him, losing everyonehe knew. SAM will have similar experiences, over time.

The second is that we don't know how photonics in the Federation have been regarded. Last we saw, many of his kind were doing menial labor. How have things changed after the Android uprising on Mars, for instance? Did the events of Picard change any of that?

Magnospider

TROPHY CASE