A NEW STAR TREK SHOW CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING – LET'S ALL BITCH LIKE IT'S 1987!!

You know the old saying – the more things change, the more they stay the same. That could have been written specifically to describe Star Trek fans. They're always bitching about something, amiright? If it's not The Motion Picture, it's Star Trek V. If it's not Insurrection it's JJ Trek. OK, so some of those are worth bitching about. So it's no surprise that the new show, Star Trek Discovery is garnering its share of nay-sayers. For a show that has yet to broadcast a single episode, it has truly brought out the best in Trekdom. Darrin Bell, creator of Candorville has summed it up masterfully.

Now, it may come as a surprise to many who are either not old enough or may simply have convenient memories, but no version of Star Trek created more bellyaching than Star Trek: The Next Generation back in 1987.

"What? Surely you jest?! My beloved NextGen was the source of unrest at its inception?" Yes, princess, the much-loved second Trek to the stars, the one that created a golden age of Star Trek and made like a zillion dollars for the studio was not well-loved upon it's premiere. I myself uttered such intelligent musings as "Geez, they named the android Data? Really? Well, that sucks!"

You name it and NextGen got hit with it. Who can forget:

"Where's Kirk and Spock?"

"That's the Enterprise?!? THAT'S NOT THE ENTERPRISE!!!"

"Wait, the captain is a bald Frenchman played by an English guy I never heard of?!"

"What's a 'Spiner' ?"

And the always favorite:

"THIS IS NOT MY STAR TREK!!!!!"

Ah, such erudition. Those were heady days!

Now, if we simply replace a few words (very few!) you get today's trashing of Discovery:

"Where's Kirk and Spock?" (Or Picard and Data or Sisko and Dax or...)

"That's the starship?!? THAT'S NOT A STARSHIP!!!"

"Wait, the main character is a black chick played by a black chick I never heard of?!"

"What's a 'Shenzhou' ?"

And since some things never change:

"THIS IS NOT MY STAR TREK!!!!!"

So we've been there and done that. But instead of learning from history, we are, alas, destined to repeat it. Every. Damn. Time. Because over the last thirty years, every new Trek incarnation was greeted with a shit-load of negativity before airing a single episode! Just like today.

It's human nature, apparently, but I find it more than a little ironic that a show that has as one of its base tenants the concept of "infinite diversity in infinite combinations" can generate so much close-mindedness, unenlightened tunnel vision, and a fair share of misogyny with a bit of racism thrown in (it's 2017, after all).

For what it's worth, I'm not a fan of all forms of Trek. While I loved TNG and DS9, I was less enthralled/indifferent to Voyager and Enterprise. And I despise JJ Trek because JJ Abrams.

That said, I plan on doing what I've done since learning my lesson with NextGen: keep an open mind and hope for the best. And then will I actually watch the damn show before judging it!! And if it sucks, only then will I bitch. You betcha. But I'm going to give it a chance.

Your mileage may vary. Especially if you're already bitching.

LLAP.

Don

PS: IMO, it took TNG two full seasons to actually become good. I still consider most of Seasons 1 & 2 to be unwatchable.