Strange New Worlds has been my favorite Trek since Next Generation, and if the quality continues, could easily be my favorite Trek ever. But with the e.p. wishing for more episodes per season, there’s a danger of diluting the show by adding weak episodes that would have never made it in a 10 episode season.
One of the things I’ve long admired with BBC shows is their normally low-episode seasons, which kept out a lot of filler that normally made it in to the broadcast shows from the states. But streaming (and before that, cable) changed things. Finally US based shows were able to create much lower episode seasons, allowing the creators to tell more of the story they wanted to tell, without stretching things out (too much), or being forced to add stories they weren’t thrilled with in order to fill the season. (Though, even with shorter runs, shows are still doing this. Picard season 2, for example, could have used some trimming. So, yeah, show runners are still being forced to fill seasons where X number of episodes were ordered before the story was fleshed out. Maybe it just seems more evident in serialized shows.)
I can’t help but think a longer season of SNW would be a “more is less” scenario. I’d much rather see Paramount create another Trek show that’s mainly episodic, that’s been shown the same attention to quality that SNW has received.
I don’t agree at all. I always liked how long the seasons were for TNG, DS9,and Voyager. Also the low episode count at the moment isn’t about quality over quantity it just is less work for the cast and crew. Honestly the more Star Trek the better. Even the worst episodes of Trek have their charm aside from TNG Season 1 Episode 3 “Code of Honor”. Some of the TOS episodes haven’t aged the best but its the 60s so whatever.
Michelle Hurd has been championing longer seasons of television for the sake of job security. We really just need to accept that 10 episode series are not there to “cut out the bad stuff” but to put the cast and crew in a worse position. Produce less content, if it “flops” then you’ve only spent so much and can cut everyone loose and recoup the loss elsewhere instead of investing jn the future.
I think more episodes of SNW would do the show a lot of good. Right now, the status quo (in my eyes, at least) is gimmick episodes. We’re not getting nearly enough “normal” Trek. Season 2 specifically has mostly been gimmicks, crossovers, and bottle episodes. You really need to construct before you deconstruct, make a status quo before you break it. It would make these big episodes stand out more.
Not just this that, but how s2 ended…
BRUH
Don’t do us like that!
spoiler
I don’t mind a little bit of tune in next year but to chop it off like that is totes BS
So…
More episodes would allow SNW to be more things for more people, and try to color outside the lines of traditional sci fi drama. Some people love the quirky episodes, and that’s cool. I am not into musicals; however, if there is one “that time I went to band camp” episode a year that doesn’t fill a 10 ep slot, ok, whatever. 10eps is REALLY SHORT.
Episodes that occur entirely on the ship (Enterprise) with no interactions or consequences outside of the ship.
That might be good, but I don’t think the actors would be able to take it. There are already bottle episodes like “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is definitely not a “bottle episode”. Bottle episodes are episodes which require minimal or no additional budget for SFX, sets, etc beyond what is already available from previous/upcoming episodes. They exist as a money saving device which was necessary for shows to run 26 episode seasons and shell out for expensive productions while remaining within their budget. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow wouldn’t have been the most expensive episode to film, but there’s still a lot of exterior scenes, VFX, etc which make it quite a bit pricier than an episode almost entirely confined to a handful of existing sets.
It is a happy accident (whether by chance, or because the format forces an emphasis on the stories Trek has been best at telling) that Trek bottle episodes tend to include some of the best writing and character moments of the various series. This naturally leads to some confusion about what a “bottle episode” actually means.
Strange New Worlds has not had any true “bottle episodes” to date, although they certainly have been able to work in a lot of high quality character moments.
If you look at the issue being actor fatigue instead of cash, the episode looks a lot more like a bottle episode.
The main character for the episode is someone who would be considered to be supporting cast. The only other characters from the show with significant screen time are also supporting cast.
It is an expensive bottle episode, but the scenes take place in a modern day city with a deep film industry. That is one step above TOS having an episode in a Western setting because the soundstage for it was already built.
