Who kept watching sub par programs simply because it had the Trek label? The fans.
I disagree with Card’s assessment about the original series. It was groundbreaking back in the 1960’s and the good episodes from that era are still pretty good. Of course the bad episodes from that era are still bad today. Brain, brain, brain. What is brain?
The Star Trek franchise has been driven into the ground by a lack of imagination. Voyager had fantastic premise but unfortunately they executed it poorly. Enterprise also had a great premise but instead of sticking to it they stuck in a temporal cold war which ruined the series, at least for me. The last Trek movie, Nemesis, was quite frankly the worst Trek movie ever produced. Yeah, I’d rather watch Star Trek V then Nemesis.
Give the series a rest. It’s old hat and they shouldn’t bring it back until they’re willing to make some radical changes to make it interesting again.
Oh god, please tell me this isn’t true! Berman and Braga are the absolute worst things that have ever happened to Star Trek! They are responsible for the drek that was Voyager and the waste that was Enterprise. What the franchise needs is to boot those imagination-less idiots and get someone with actual creativity.
Omigod, I just read the article. “Being John Malkovich” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” are the “finest science fiction films of all time?” “Lost” is “the finest television science fiction series of all time”?!?!?! “Lost” isn’t even science fiction, fercrisakes, it’s fantasy, and fantasy with no rules at that. Card just just wrong, on just about every point in that article.
“Being John Malkovich”, fine science fiction; unbelievable…
Everything I’ve seen in the different mags, e-mail newsletters, and websites says this just isn’t so. Berman and bragga are off of Star Trek. The only thing still even slightly alive was the next movie treatment, but that was relying heavily on ENT people, both actors and behind the scenes. Since Paramount has virtually dissolved all of that, I’m looking more and more at this being a still born idea.
Good thing, too. Berman did good early in Trek, but he and Bragga together are very much resposible (IMHO) for the franchise now being worn out and losing fans.
All Trek needs is a fresh look. Bergama can’t do that. I doubt that current Paramount would even bother trying. Give the network/studio a few more exec changes and then we’ll see something both new and good.
Y’know, Card’s starting to develop himself a nice little reputation as a professional curmudgeon, with an edge of the reactionary. His published opinions haven’t been received very well by SF fandom the last couple of months…
Well, not yet, at least. It’s a drama, for sure. But whether it’s Sci Fi… that may depend on what’s in “the hatch”. (And whether the TCM is a “pissed off giraffe” or not).