StillPaisleyCat

joined 2 years ago
 

The television expansion of the Monsterverse rolls on with the imminent launch of *Monarch: Legacy of Monsters* 2nd season — three weeks from now on February 27th!

I’m hopeful to persuade some folks here on Lemmy to embrace the Monsterverse and discuss the new season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters here. I’m open to modding a new community here on StarTrek.website as there has been for Dr. Who, and have been enquiring with the mods. Any interest here?

Apple released new key art as well as a Titan focused 2 1/2 minute full trailer this week.

Kurt and Wyatt Russell return in the principal role across time periods, Anna Sawai anchors the young generation.

And a prequel spinoff helmed by Wyatt Russell is already announced.

The Hollywood Reporter has the details and links.

The Electrical and Plumbing Store in Ottawa is a longstanding independent business, and have a good reputation in Eastern Ontario.

They sell online now too. Many of their products are US brands though.

https://www.epstore.com/

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That’s how Sam interpreted it, and it’s why she imitated it / mirrored it back.

But what if it wasn’t pro forma?

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 4 points 2 days ago (6 children)

Does anyone else have any lingering questions or hypotheses around two nonsequiturs in the episode?

  1. The Bajoran who welcomed Sam said that her “pagh is strong;”
  2. Jake’s holographic reconstruction called Sam ‘sis’.

I’m wondering why and how the photonics chose the form for Sam - and whether her form is based on a real person - such as Sisko and Cassidy’s daughter Rebecca.

I’m also really wondering how a photonic being can have a pagh…

These definitely seem like things that might be followed up on later.

This has some value added in terms of contrasting the outcome of DS9 ‘The Visitor’ with Jake’s Prime Timeline outcome.

I like the SFA outcome, and I think it respects what Avery wanted in terms of showing that Sisko was a fantastic Black father who left a legacy of good parenting to future generations.

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I was very moved at how Jake was a truly adult version of the youth we saw in DS9 but that he also had the posture and dignity that Avery Brooks brought to Sisko.

Cirroc Lofton really can act and it’s outrageous if he’s not been getting work if he wants it.

If you’ve seen him as himself in his podcast, there’s no doubt about his performance in this episode.

It makes me very much want to see him cast in something else.

Wondering if there’s a minimum wait before retesting and that would put them beyond the time limit.

Or perhaps she’s previously tested failed the test and this was her best result.

Skydance only bought Paramount this past summer after production of SFA season one was well advanced and SNW was largely done seasons four production.

While there is genuine reason for concern regarding future Star Trek, it’s very hard to make the case regarding anything in pre production before 2025.

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 6 points 1 week ago (4 children)

As if Star Trek wasn’t corporate from the beginning!

Every major difference between the original pilot ‘The Cage’ and the original series / TOS was rooted in corporate priorities.

The bright, primary coloured uniform tunics, bright colourful flashing lights on the bridge and other sets were designed to promote NBC’s ‘Living Color’ television broadcasts.

Kirk was younger, physically more vigorous and less cerebral than Pike, no matter what Roddenberry wanted. Action adventure hero, romancing women, was what the network wanted no matter that Roddenberry wanted Kirk to be a ‘stack of books with legs’ and for Yeoman Rand to be the original third principle character and long term romantic interest.

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I’m rather wondering if this kind of advertising targeting GenX middle aged and senior men is an inevitable coda to the 1990s wave of colonic irrigation humour.

 

Ok, I appreciate that Bill Shatner has seemingly no personal shame when it comes to blatant vulgarity in salesmanship.

It also seems clear that Paramount’s new owners seem to have no bounds on the pop culture limits they will assail go get higher profile.

But nothing prepared me for the new *”Will Shat here”* Super Bowl ad campaigns for *Raisin Bran* ! 🥹

And certain crusty and reactionary Star Trek fans are worried about Starfleet Academy damaging the professionalism and dignity of the franchise. !🤦🏼‍♀️🤣

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

A most excellent way to celebrate…

Voyager in TAS Filmation-style tribute by Gazelle Automations. Animated Threshold

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Hopefully this episode will satisfy the “what happened to the Klingons?!!” questions lingering from Discovery.

…And perhaps kickoff a new narrative with Jay-Den as Heart of Glory did for Worf in TNG season one.

[–] StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

That’s a point.

Although in the case of the introduction of the Cardassians, there were significant contradictions vs the geopolitical situation of the Federation as presented repeatedly in the earlier seasons of TNG.

In relation to fan outrage though, even modest ‘filling in gaps’ — or ‘dancing between the raindrops’ as the EPs of SNW call it, is frequently met with with complaint that “no one has ever mentioned that before.”

 

Star Trek fans have become very sensitive to introductions of new characters, aliens or historic events arguing that things that haven’t previously been mentioned ‘break canon’ or disrespect lore.

This piece by Inverse shows how profoundly TNG retconned Federation, Starfleet, and main characters’ history on the fly.

Worth thinking about.

 

February 27th will mark the season 2 premiere of Apple’s Monarch Legacy of Monsters starring Anna Sawai and Kurt Russell.

The teaser released yesterday promises a new kaiju, larger than Godzilla or King Kong.

However, there was another low key announcement 4 weeks ago that Apple has a spinoff already in development.

Right now, the new show is simply known as ‘Untitled Young Lee Shaw Spin-Off’ – here’s a synopsis: “The spinoff series will follow the story of Colonel Lee Shaw, an American operative who in 1984 went on a secret mission behind enemy lines in an attempt to stop the Soviets from unleashing a horrific new Titan big enough to destroy the U.S. and turn the tide of the Cold War.”

Wyatt Russell, has consistently had excellent critical reviews, but his profile has been rising since his recent appearance as John Walker in Marvel’s Thunderbolts.

Curious to know if there are other Monsterverse fans here on the instance who would like to discuss.

Editing to add the following quote from the Hollywood Reporter coverage

“Viewers around the world haven’t been able to get enough of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ since its global debut, and we cannot wait to unleash the electrifying new stories that Joby and the entire cast and creative team have been working on,” said Morgan Wandell, head of international development for Apple TV. “With Joby at the helm, and alongside our terrific partners at Legendary, this new spinoff will kick off an epic Monsterverse expansion that brings audiences even closer to their favorite Titans, along with fantastic character-driven storytelling.”

 

Although Paramount+ now streams all the live action Star Trek shows in Canada, BellMedia’s CTV Sci-fi Channel has continued to provide linear cable programming for many of the Star Trek shows, including Strange New Worlds.

It wasn’t clear whether Starfleet Academy would also be available on CTV in first run. It’s now appearing in the television listings with a double episode premiere starting at 9:00 pm Eastern Time.

 

Despite a rebuff of an initial offer to buy Warner Brothers - Discovery, David Ellison is continuing to talk about it.

Meanwhile, WB-Discovery CEO Zazlav looks to be trying to split off the linear business and market the studios, IP and library.

 

Lots of interesting comments in the interview.

One that stood out to me:

The Duffers emphasized that they don’t plan on becoming prolific producers of a large stable of shows and films. “We don’t want to become like Bad Robot,” Matt Duffer said, name checking J.J. Abrams’ production company. “Ross and I are incapable of juggling that many things.”

 

“Media conglomerate putting together majority cash offer for WBD backed by ultra-rich Ellison family, reports say”

The Wall Street Journal, this Guardian article and other business news media are reporting that the rumoured Warner Brothers - Paramount merger is back under consideration — this time with the deep pockets of the Ellisons.

One can see it as a worthwhile investment for the Ellisons regardless whether the motivation is acquiring IP or media control.

Disquieting for Star Trek franchise fans nonetheless.

 

Treklit has some great offerings. The Relaunch universe books in particular developed coherent serialized storylines and a group of strong authors. There is also a deep library of standalone books from across all eras of the franchise.

By contrast, serialized Star Trek is struggling onscreen. Of the current era, only Prodigy has excelled in serialized storytelling.

So, why not look to the books? Not just to lift an idea like Control or the end of the Borg, but to actually tell a coherent narrative across a season or season?

On Netflix, Prime and Apple, it’s become established that successful streaming shows are often based on novels and novel series. Those streamers have come to understand that novelists, not scriptwriters, excel in laying out long form storytelling, and resources are often better put in having the screenwriters adapt than create from the whole cloth.

Reading a recent interview with Mick Herron, author of the critically acclaimed and popular Slow Horses on Apple, with a second show based on his other books launching this fall, I was struck by the interviewer’s assertion of this truism.

I thought about several of the non franchise shows I enjoy and how many of them are more or less faithful adaptations of books.

I was also struck by the thought that both Skydance and Paramount are quite capable of producing excellent book adaptations for Netflix and Apple. Murderbot is a very current example.

So, what’s holding back Star Trek from exploiting the Vanguard series or the Starfleet Core of Engineers books?

Why insist on giving showrunners resources to keep retelling franchise stories with legacy characters and tropes?

Why not exploit that IP that Paramount already owns by adapting the best of decades of TrekLit?

 

During a panel with Picard season three showrunner Terry Matalas and Todd Stashwick (Shaw), were questioned about a ‘30-page outline’ for the Star Trek Legacy concept.

Reportedly, Michelle Hurd (Raffi) mentioned this during an earlier panel.

It sounds as though there’s nothing new in terms of interest from the executives about the concept, just fan interest and an ongoing campaign. Matalas and Stashwick are focused on the upcoming Marvel limited series Vision Quest in which Stashwick stars as the Paladin.

What’s interesting to me is that the more I hear about Matalas original pitch, the more I dislike. Matalas confirmed that it would have a Klingon focus.

While I loved the deep dives into Klingon lore in the 90s, I would prefer something new in the 25th century even a show featuring legacy characters.

As well, Matalas confirmed that they proposed that Shaw would a holographic recreation rather than revived by Borg nanites. We don’t need another grumpy hologram now that the Doctor is back in both Prodigy and Starfleet Academy.

I would find Shaw’s journey as a victim of the Borg with survivor guild to someone who accepts that his own life depends on Borg technology as much more interesting, compelling and new ground in terms of a character arc.

Edited to correct Michelle Hurd’s family name…

 

Variety reports that “Brian Robbins Calls Paramount-Skydance Merger ‘Bittersweet’ in Memo to Staff Amid His Exit as Co-CEO”

David Ellison, the founder of Skydance, will become chairman and CEO of Paramount. Andy Gordon, who leads the West Coast office of RedBird Capital Partners, is set to take the role of chief operating officer and chief strategic officer. RedBird teamed with Skydance to acquire Paramount Global for $8.5 billion.

Looking at how Paramount, since 2021, has failed to deliver on a new Star Trek movie, arguably wound down three successful shows prematurely, it’s difficult to see that this leadership team has done well by the franchise.

Looking at the apparent expeditious compromises Paramount leadership and Shari Redstone were willing to make to clear the way for the sale, I’m willing to look forward to see what comes next.

 

We picked up some good deals from the promotion this week.

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