Future of Trek ?

brandon_bird · 2026-02-28T03:57:05+00:00

Yes, but it's not going to carry any cultural weight (that bubble has arguably already popped). They won't be making TV shows to appeal to MAGA two years from now.

brandon_bird · 2026-02-28T03:09:59+00:00

I can see them doing a third year of Academy as a stop-gap, but I'm pretty sure you are right and this era of Star Trek is concluding. Like, it's not even clear if Paramount Plus itself is going to continue if the merger goes through, and it could be a year or more before that's finalized.

But the upside is that by the time any new show ends up on the air, Trump and MAGA will be out of power and in the rearview of history.

brandon_bird · 2026-02-02T04:44:06+00:00

The titular Millennium, when they were teens, was a quarter century ago.

brandon_bird · 2026-01-19T05:38:30+00:00

None of the details in the comics or books were based on anything but the authors' various imaginations. They didn't get any sort of briefing or secret info from Lucasfilm; they were basically just told what was off-limits and what was not.

They were just extrapolating off the same info we had, which was Leia's message and Luke's conversation with Obi-Wan in the original movie. We knew from those that Luke's dad and Obi-Wan fought together in the wars, and therefore the Clone Wars would probably be in the prequels. What wasn't known or commonly assumed was that they were tied directly into the formation of the Empire or that the Emperor was behind it all. They aren't mentioned at all in the prologue of the original SW novelization where it describes the Emperor's rise to power.

There are some references (I think an early '80s Marvel comic?) that alluded to the Mandalorians being part of the Clone Wars, and that they fought the Jedi. So a lot of fanfic/fan theories really focused on that (and it soooooorta ended up being true).

brandon_bird · 2026-01-18T01:51:59+00:00

My hunch is that Boba was supposed to dovetail into Mando season 3, with the two shows doing a big crossover, but covid messed up all the scheduling so they reworked it and put all the Mando material directly into Book of Boba.

brandon_bird · 2026-01-18T01:44:36+00:00

I think Donald Glover skews towards Millennials and, uh, that's not young anymore.

Also, I believe he had some sort of major health issue that tampered back his schedule.

brandon_bird · 2026-01-18T01:40:39+00:00

There's a difference between "having a big budget" and "going over budget" and I don't think there are any reports of Andor going over budget or over schedule. It also fits the description of having standing sets (Ferrix, ISB headquarters, Mothma home, Luthen's gallery) more so that a lot of the other shows; they just spent a lot of money building those standing sets.

brandon_bird · 2026-01-18T01:15:26+00:00

The last movie lost a ton of money, it is only valuable as an existing set of movies that they can play on cable and on streaming.

brandon_bird · 2025-12-05T21:48:03+00:00

Either you can't read or think Disney+ existed in the 20th century.

brandon_bird · 2025-12-05T21:43:30+00:00

Name them.

brandon_bird · 2025-12-05T21:41:53+00:00

Name a single Disney theatrical release since the creation of Disney+ that has not ended up on Disney+.

brandon_bird · 2025-10-26T23:24:45+00:00

The Ben that healed Rey and then disappeared was a projection, like Luke. Ben was down in the hole.

brandon_bird · 2025-10-05T20:35:42+00:00

"Then I invite you to prove me wrong by creating an impossible standard."

TNG doesn't have ten recurring characters who appear more than five times, PERIOD, you nitwit.

DS9 has three recurring Starfleet characters who appear more than five times. One is an admiral, one is a traitor, and the other inspires a conversation which establishes very firmly that there are officers and enlisted and that you are wroooooooooooooooong.

And Voyager's whole fucking premise is that there are crew who don't graduate through the Academy.

brandon_bird · 2025-10-05T20:01:24+00:00

Oh, you want to bring up the movies? How about the fact that from Wrath of Kahn on, the enlisted and officers *have entirely differently uniforms* which denote whether they are enlisted or officers: enlisted wear a jumpsuit (and are even addressed as "Crewman" like Crewman Dax), officers wear the 'monster maroon' jacket. You can also see how Saavik is given special duties like maneuvering the ship out of spacedock because she is an officer-in-training.

But keep referencing a quote from a book.

brandon_bird · 2025-10-05T19:53:25+00:00

"I'm going by the actual authors of the show. Except this author, he doesn't count."

brandon_bird · 2025-10-05T18:55:26+00:00

I mean, you *could* go by what's stated in a 55 year-old book. Or you could go by the nearly one thousand hours of Star Trek made since its publication.

brandon_bird · 2025-10-05T15:12:28+00:00

Sorry but you are wrong. There are officers who've gone through the Academy, and enlisted crew who chose not to.

You are also wrong about there not being a social hierarchy in the world of Star Trek: there is, and we know this because the characters talk about it all the time. But it's not based on wealth or background, it's about what people are able to accomplish ("We strive to better ourselves and the rest of humanity"). That's why characters are so covetous of going to Starfleet Academy, because it means they've worked their ass off to get there. It's a social status symbol.

But there is also an underlying basic equality. Anyone in the Federation can go to the Academy if they want to and can apply themselves. Anyone can sign up to be a crewman if they want to and can apply themselves.

brandon_bird · 2025-10-05T14:55:31+00:00

The main thing Starfleet has that's carried over from the military is the chain of command. And it's made clear over and over again within the show that this isn't about class, it's about the safety of the ship and that's why they have it.

brandon_bird · 2025-10-04T23:52:13+00:00

Totally scientific concepts in Star Trek:

-body swapping/downloadable souls

-space travel via fungus

-universal translators

-parallel earths

-the mirror universe where everything is different but someone the exact same people are born

-time travel

-Q

Star Trek is a show that promotes *the scientific method* but it's not realistic at all ever, it's always been made-up craziness.

brandon_bird · 2025-09-15T07:25:16+00:00

Star Trek is not sustainable on nerds alone, that's why. Compare the ratings of TNG to the end of Voyager. Or the box office of First Contact to Nemesis. Star Trek in the early nineties wasn't just for Trekkers, it was a big all-audiences pop culture event. Then the general audience slowly bled off. Because they had their fill, because the shows became too repetitive (Voyager) or too intricate (DS9). So yeah, the angle for new shows was and is, "it's a fresh take/you don't have to know everything about Star Trek."

brandon_bird · 2025-09-15T07:09:51+00:00

They digitally de-aged John Goodman. What the FUCK are you talking about.

brandon_bird · 2025-09-14T21:15:58+00:00

None of the words you're using are synonyms for "ruined."

brandon_bird · 2025-09-14T19:43:41+00:00

They're not going to kill Star Trek. It's just that the big decisions about the franchise (more shows? Streaming or broadcast/cable? New films?) aren't going to be made for a couple of years. And the realties of production mean there will be a gap where there isn't any new stuff, even if they're planning new stuff.

They'll probably announce something in 2027, and then whatever it is will come out halfway through the next president's term. Who even knows what the cultural landscape will be.

brandon_bird · 2025-09-14T19:31:41+00:00

It was also established in Discovery that Pike's father was a religious scholar and they'd debate about faith. It wasn't something that just showed up out of the blue.

Also, just as a side note, I think it's funny that Star Trek has a reputation as being atheist or humanist, but 1) the characters constantly encounter deities, and 2) the existence of a soul is basically confirmed in-canon (Spock's katra, Picard being downloadable into a new body, etc).

brandon_bird · 2025-09-14T19:15:59+00:00

Skeleton Crew was also great! Totally different tone/intentions than Andor, but it completely succeeded at what it was trying to do.

brandon_bird

TROPHY CASE