The Orville was more “Trek” than new Trek

(originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

When The Orville launched, many of the show’s characteristics matched what we loved about Star Trek more than Star Trek: Discovery did.

So I wanted to come on here and take a look back to 2017. You see, for fans of science fiction, and more importantly, Star Trek, 2017 was going to be a big year for us because while Star Trek had been given a fresh coat of paint and a revival, so to speak, with the JJ Abrams’ movies starting in 2009 and continuing on with Into Darkness in 2013 and Beyond in 2016, CBS announced plans to produce a new Star Trek television series for the first time in 12 years! Because while those JJ movies were ok, Star Trek…historically speaking, has largely enjoyed its best years on the small screen, in the form of a weekly television series. So in November of 2015, CBS announced plans to produce a new Star Trek television series called Star Trek: Discovery, which would air weekly on their new streaming service, named CBS All Access. Discovery would debut September 19, 2017.

Interestingly enough, Discovery wasn’t the only weekly sci-fi show to debut around that same time. Turns out, Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy & American Dad) had pitched his own Star Trek-esque sci-fi show to FOX, which was greenlit and aired its first episode just over a week earlier, on September 10, 2017. That show was named The Orville. It starred Seth as Captain Ed Mercer of the titular ship, The Orville. However, this was anything but the Enterprise. Because while the Orville was a ship of exploration, much like we’d get to know the USS Cerritos from Star Trek: Lower Decks for, Ed and his crew weren’t given any real important assignments. Also, we’re informed in the first episode, as Ed is first taking command of the ship, that his first officer was to be his ex-wife, Kelly Grayson, who had previously cheated on him. Hilarity ensues as he makes a few panicked runs from the bridge to his ready room onboard the ship to protest the assignment, but to no avail.

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December 15, 2023 0

Best new Star Trek characters of the Paramount+ era

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

Paramount’s done a pretty nice job in fleshing out their new Star Trek series on Paramount+

As it stands, Paramount+ has given us a number of new Star Trek series since first launching Star Trek: Discovery in September of 2017. Those new series include: Discovery (4 Seasons), Star Trek: Picard (3 Seasons), Star Trek: Lower Decks (4 Seasons), Star Trek: Prodigy (1 Season), and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2 Seasons). You can also count Star Trek: Short Treks, but those are just shorts that don’t tie into one another and don’t have any consistent characters.

Though some of these series rely on previously established characters like Captains Christopher Pike, Jean-Luc Picard, and Kathryn Janeway, there have been a good number of new characters added to the Star Trek Universe and given quite interesting backstories and quirks. While not every one of their new characters have been fully fleshed out as I’d have hoped, there are a few notable, well-written characters who I’m here to shine a spotlight on today.

In the coming slides, I’m going to share some of my favorite new additions to the Star Trek Universe, many of whom, aren’t the central characters of their various series. In fact, most of them are actually supporting characters that I believe, their respective series would suffer greatly if they were left out. I’m here to explore some of their stories, and the reasons why I think they’re great additions. The following are my favorite new additions to the Star Trek Universe – in no specific order.

November 19, 2023 0

Female Starfleet Captains and why Michael Burnham’s the worst

(Originally posted to RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)

For as interesting as her rise to Captain on Star Trek: Discovery has been, Michael Burnham is the weakest written female Captain in Star Trek history.

In Star Trek’s over 50 year history, we’ve had a number of female Starfleet Captains, and most of them have benefitted from a writing staff who cared deeply to make them strong characters. Even during the 90s, when women like Jeri Ryan were mostly objectified and used as sex symbols to get viewership numbers up, the female Captains were generally treated differently.

Going all the way back to The Next Generation episode, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, we’re introduced to Rachel Garrett, Captain of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C). As her story goes, she responded to a distress call from a Klingon Outpost at Narendra III, who were under attack by a squadron of Romulan Warbirds during a time when the Federation and the Klingon Empire weren’t exactly as friendly as they later would come to be.

Even after being sucked into a temporal rift which sends her ship 22 years into the future, she understands her place in time and decides to return to her proper time in hopes to better the future. But it’s her call to duty and dedication to the Federation’s morals to attempt to give aid when requested, that her and her crew’s ultimate deaths are viewed as honorable by the Klingons, which sows the seeds for the eventual Khitomer Accords peace treaty between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. We may not have known her for long, but what we do know of her are her extreme heroics in the face of adversity.

August 6, 2023 0