TV you've just watched

[GaijinPunch]

Finally got around to the last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Hilarious as usual, up until the end.

[vol.2]

Finally got around to the last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Hilarious as usual, up until the end.

Damn, I haven't watched that show for like a whole decade. It's amazing how long it was on for, but I guess there were a lot of gaps.

Good to know it still holds up.

I have been watching Mr. Show, and it's still amazing. Bob Odenkirk is freaking genius. Was watching some of his early standup and it really hits; the bit where he pulls baseball hats out of a bag is so good.

[Some-Mist]

mr. show is godlike. one of my childhood friends first showed it to me in 8th grade and I didn't get it. fast forward to college when I finally rewatched it and I fell in love. he used to try and show me a buncha shit at that time that I just didn't understand, that I've gone back and appreciate now. the ones that stick out to me most are arrested development and harmony korine flicks.

we crushed through tires (the new shane gillis show) in one sitting, and I kinda wish I spaced it out to have something to look forward to and savor. it had a very indie feel to it, similar to horace and pete. we've since gotten through our 3rd rewatch of detroiters season 1 (with season 2 on deck).

[Lemnear]

The Witches of Eastwick (the info said G.Miller and at first i hadn't thought of THAT G.Miller)
I loved it, no one can replace Jack Nicholson and he is probably the real human aspect of Satan

[neorichieb1971]

Dark Matter (2024).

Ironically one of my favourite tv shows from the 201*'s was also called Dark Matter, but here we are again with another Dark Matter which is totally unrelated to the first one.

Apple TV.

This is a very clever TV show. There is a puzzle in it, which the viewer ultimately gets involved in. The bread crumbs are laid in such a way that some will solve it earlier than others. Eventually it just tells you whats going on so you don't need to be smart about it. If you like dystopian settings, science, puzzles and a TV show that could literally take you anywhere, any minute.. this might be for you. My wife liked it as well for the puzzle elements as you both engross yourself in the solution. Currently its 5 eps in, with next one June 2nd.

I've been impressed with Apple TV. Foundation, Silo, Dark Matter, Hijack are all good for the course.

[vol.2]

Dark Matter (2024).

Ironically one of my favourite tv shows from the 201*'s was also called Dark Matter, but here we are again with another Dark Matter which is totally unrelated to the first one.

I totally thought that's what you were talking about at first. Dark Matter was a great show. It's too bad that it was so popular and got cancelled so SYFY wouldn't have to pay the cast decent wages.

[RGC]

Really enjoyed Fargo season 2. Top quality writing and the cast (Patrick Wilson and Bokeem Woodbine in particular), truly delivered. That said, I'm a bit torn over

Spoiler

the penultimate episode, for a couple of reasons. It had to arrive at a big shootout, that was always on the cards. But the flying saucer and the other UFO references in earlier eps felt like a retrofitted distraction from (what the creators may have feared was) an otherwise fairly run-of-the-mill gun battle climax. Perhaps they were going for - the aliens started this mess and wanted to help put things right. I'm not sure, and there may well be some other significance there I didn't pick up on. In no way did it ruin the experience, but I'd probably preferred it without. Besides, it didn't even matter that the motel gunfight was just a motel gunfight. I was so invested in the characters by that point, there's no way I'd have been bored. The other thing that grated slightly was the narration toward the end. Don't think it added anything.

I'm being hyperpicky though. It was riveting TV. Trumps season one for me. Poor Mike. King for a Day, and all that.

[neorichieb1971]

Dark Matter (2024).

Ironically one of my favourite tv shows from the 201*'s was also called Dark Matter, but here we are again with another Dark Matter which is totally unrelated to the first one.

I totally thought that's what you were talking about at first. Dark Matter was a great show. It's too bad that it was so popular and got cancelled so SYFY wouldn't have to pay the cast decent wages.

I saw Dark Matter (the original) on prime or netflix recently. It had a 4/5 rating. I liked the A team space team vibe it gave. My favourite episode is when the robot infiltrates one of the bases. I felt she played the played the part very well. I thought Dark matter was cancelled by Syfy because it was sub contracted rather than in house material and they focused on that instead. It ended on a cliff hanger when it finished, so maybe they will revisit it but the cast would have aged a wee bit since it last recorded. Depends how it does on the platform its currently streaming on I guess. If I hadn't seen it, I would def be watching it

[vol.2]

I saw Dark Matter (the original) on prime or netflix recently. It had a 4/5 rating. I liked the A team space team vibe it gave. My favourite episode is when the robot infiltrates one of the bases. I felt she played the played the part very well.

I think Dark Matter really got the pulp sci-fi angle down well. Watching it reminded me of reading a classic sci-fi adventure or something. I mean, it wasn't some kind of masterpiece, but it wasn't meant to be. Very fun show. It was adapted from a comic book, so it's got a good chance of seeing a reboot. I would seriously doubt it would pick up where the last one left off; I think they would start over from scratch.

I thought Dark matter was cancelled by Syfy because it was sub contracted rather than in house material and they focused on that instead.

Yeah, that is one of the strategies they employed to cut costs, but Syfy already had an established history of deleting shows that did too well long before Dark Matter. Everytime I started to get attached to a show they cancelled it. The only ones that escaped were the Stargate shows. Examples include Warehouse 13, Andromeda, Sanctuary, Haven, Eureka, I could go on and on. Eureka was their banner show when it got cancelled, and they just said "sorry the actors want too much money now so we're pulling the plug."

[neorichieb1971]

House of the Dragon S2-

I agree with the review of Ep1 that it sits ep1 on holding back the big events. I miss the witty tongues of GOT, the moments of awe inspriring build ups to a big character getting sliced and diced to fill the void.

HOTD is largely a political debate playing out which is not the selling factor of the show. Its nice to have it back on the screen but it does lack a certain something that Thrones had.

I hope the distopian morbid angle turns to something else soon.

[Air Master Burst]

Star Trek Prodigy's second season might be even better than the first. Unquestionably the best modern Trek, and is making a strong case for my second favorite Star Trek series overall after TNG.

While there isn't an episode quite as good as Time Amok from season 1, the overall quality has improved across the board. They do an excellent job mixing single-episode problems with the overall story arc, and ended up making one of the most coherent time travel stories in Trek. Most importantly, they still keep showing COOL NEW SHIT, like the sentient whale navigators that Starfleet ships have always used but they've never been able to afford to show in live action.

The callbacks and returns are still perfect. Wesley Crusher is basically Doctor Who with his Traveler powers and it's fucking amazing. The EMH shows up to mentor/babysit the kids and do typical EMH shenanigans. Ronny Cox shows up as Admiral Jellico and is as delightfully ornery as ever. There's a fun tribble episode, and a brief Mirror Universe visit. Somehow this show even made me care about useless-ass fucking Chakotay! (ETA: perhaps more shocking, this show even made ROBERT BELTRAN care about useless-ass fucking Chakotay!)

If you love classic Trek you will probably love it.

TNG
Prodigy
OG
Enterprise (except season 3)
Voyager
DS9
The rest of the modern stuff I guess
Getting hit by a bus
Enterprise season 3

[RGC]

Star Trek Prodigy
...
If you love classic Trek

I'll definitely check this out, thanks! I've been enjoying the back to basics (modern lighting fx aside), of Strange New Worlds. Pike's charm is just on the right side of the line so as not to be annoying, and most importantly it's not ALL about him. There have been some fairly woeful filler episodes, but hey, that's very in keeping with classic Trek!

Voyager is an entry that I've always loved to bitch about, but if I permit myself total honesty there's more to like overall than not. Always felt Chakotay behaved like a pussy on occasions when it would have served the show better for him to show a slightly rougher edge.

The glimpses I caught of Picard were enough to make me nose-chunder.

[Air Master Burst]

I'll definitely check this out, thanks! I've been enjoying the back to basics (modern lighting fx aside), of Strange New Worlds.

Strange New Worlds isn't bad, just woefully misnamed. I was hoping for an all-new crew visiting new planets and meeting new aliens (this is also part of why I never got into DS9). All the legacy tie-ins really drag everything down because there's no real point to any of them beyond brand recognition.

Prodigy is everything I wanted out of Strange New Worlds.

[Osirus]

Outer Range Season 2

... and now it's cancelled, with no resolution to anything. I'm done with TV.

[GaijinPunch]

Outer Range Season 2

... and now it's cancelled, with no resolution to anything. I'm done with TV.

I just read that. What a bunch of bullshit. Setup to keep going for a while and then the cancelled it. And it got good ratings right? Fucking Amazon....

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Got caught up with House of Dragons. Last few episodes have been way better. Also Your Honor with Bryan Cranston has been pretty decent.

[neorichieb1971]

Outer Range Season 2

... and now it's cancelled, with no resolution to anything. I'm done with TV.

I just read that. What a bunch of bullshit. Setup to keep going for a while and then the cancelled it. And it got good ratings right? Fucking Amazon....

I watched most of Outer range S1 and S2, started to lose interest near the end. I got to the point where the rich guy found the hole and he disowned his son, and the main characters son jumped through and went back in time. The Indian police lady chief somehow ended up back in 1800's. Some of it was good but I couldn't see where it was going at all.

I am watching House of the Dragon S2.. and I just finished Severance. Severance is freaking weird but I like original ideas. Certainly was original.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Finally finished the last season of Better Caul Saul. Goddammit what an amazing show.

[emphatic]

Finished season 3 of True Detective with my wife the other day. It's on par with season 1, easily.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

The new season of Vikings Valhalla was awesome! I hope they get another series. Only complaint is that it was too short.

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Rick & Morty season 7 - 8.5/10
Starts off strong, turns out the new voice actors are indistinguishable from the guy who was fired (Rick doesn't burp in the middle of his sentences anymore, but maybe he stopped doing that seasons ago, I don't know), bit of a slump in the middle (it's actually the first time that there was an actual bad episode, plus a bit too much of the old "making fun of TV tropes and clichées" instead of proper plot ideas), but then an extremely strong season finale that focuses a lot on the characters themselves. IMO still the best cartoon of all times.

[neorichieb1971]

Cobra Kai S6.

I find this show hilarious. I cannot count how many times these so called friends have split ups, have fights, join up again, have splits, have fights, join up again. It must be 15-20 times already. Geez, you would think the writers could come up with something original.

Also, everyone acts like the consequences of their actions in the Karate world are life threatening. They get depressed and suffer anxiety from the most ridiculous things. I started watching it due to the nostalgia value but at this stage its just doing a rinse and repeat cycle. The kids that are supposedly going to school look well beyond their school years. The narrative of the story will have some skinny girl kicking ass all over the place. Parties that get out of control have fights that wreck a whole house, 15 minutes later its all fixed up like nothing happend.

I enjoy it to see how ridiculous it gets.

[Some-Mist]

anyone start the taika waititi time bandits tv show? it doesn't look that great but I feel like I should start it tonight as a big fan of the terry gilliam film

edit: started it finishing both available eps and it’s very entertaining but probably more suited towards children. Lisa Kudrow is the weakest part of the entire thing, but I can get past it. Now comes the wait for more episodes to drop…

[NYN]

Sharp Objects, an HBO adaptation of a novel. 6 of 8 down, it's very much a neo-ghost tale, where the haunting plays in one's own existence, and not with the supernatural. What I adore about it, is how key parts are NOT served up, in a way of monologue narration that is total internal journal (so lazy nowadays). It offers scenes, that are meant to be taken from as an audience to follow the characters. Fights the notion that every thing can be put into words and becomes conveniently conveyable. Uses, don't abuses. Kindly skate-swerves any tropes about The South, self-harm, the outcast, fem poison, sexism, bigotry, etc. Right pressure points applied. Should the last 2 eps land for us, this gets down as excellence, I do declare.

[RGC]

Should the last 2 eps land for us, this gets down as excellence, I do declare.

Yeah this really did land for us. Nothing can be said without spoiling it, but wow! Adapted from a novel by the same author (Gillian Flynn), who penned Gone Girl.

[SuperPang]

One of the best TV adaptations in recent years. It's perfect.

[NYN]

Finished! Ep 7 is a slap to the face, to get sober, facing facts, leaving ghost world behind. I wasn't going to like it, the way it sets up the conclusion. I felt reminded of True Detective S1 and "the-banality-of-evil", and prepared for impact, while the gal partner announced that afterwards she would need a vacation from all movies/series' for a time to clear her head. Nasty, we thought... and it came to eat us alive. Excellence confirmed!
I AM PERSEPHONE

[Randorama]

I am going through Star Trek series in their original English versions, in part for completist purposes (i.e. I saw many of them in dubbed form), in part to see if this franchise has/had anything relevant to offer in the last 2 decades or so. I am skipping the movies, for now (and for, like, ever). Brief opinions:

Star Trek: The Original Series

I adore the opening theme and those episodes that attempt to focus on the New Wave type of Science Fiction, which was deeply influential in the '60s. Over time I discovered just how creepy Roddenberry was, and the passages in which this creepiness seeps in the episodes are unpleasant (e.g. the head-scratching "utopic" views). At some point I decided to skim weaker and ultra-camp episodes (e.g. the "Mirror Universe episode"...) by either watching them at twice the speed, or by listening to the audio only while doing something else. For the weakest episodes combining both options worked fine for me.

I originally watched re-runs of this series as a kid in the '80s and I found it deeply inspirational: somebody even told me that I raise my eyebrows like a Vulcan, for instance. As an adult, I can see its historical merits and its attempts to propose a literary quality to stories, but that's all I can appreciate about this series, honestly.

Star Trek: The Animated Series

nice stories for kids, animated with a "Soviet Russia" approach. I think that the authors had a more balanced approach to the use of characters (i.e. it's not always about Kirk getting laid). I found this one visually ugly but conceptually interesting as a kid, and my opinion as an adult...is the same, for the sake of mercy.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

I grew up as a teen by watching "night marathons" on Saturdays with friends. The show was absurdly niche, so we would get 5 episodes every last Saturday of January to July, from 1 am to 6 am, and marathon while trying not to fall asleep. First two seasons...double/triple speed, audio-only, and wash ears afterwards. Then, I really focused on the top 20 episodes or so: most episodes are too episodic, to put it in simple terms. The Inner Light and Darmok remain my favourite episodes in the way they actually use more refined literary SF themes to build stellar narratives. Darmok actually was one of my inspirations for doing the job I do (i.e. linguist). I cannot hate this series because my teen self spent many sleepless nights, trying to watch it; the uneven quality is however there, and so is Wesley Crasher. Still, when the series was shown in its entirety at more rational time-slots, relatives (mother, grandparents, others) and friends suddenly became full of praise for the "Trek stories"; its ability to connect viewers is undeniable.

Star Trek: DS9

Three seasons of sometimes interesting space soap opera/slice of life that have no treks in space, followed by four seasons of complex, serialised storytelling about war, violence, religion, difficult choices...and other themes often found in the "Space Station" sub-genre, and sometimes in the “trek in space" genre. The top episodes are splendid, and I'd absolutely marry Nana' Visitor even now (OK, if bigamy was legal). The tonal shift from the first part to the second part is almost traumatising and, in some aspects, I preferred Babylon 5. My mom adored this series to bits, so my filial duties were to watch it with her, back in the day (i.e. it was shown in the afternoon when TNG re-runs were over, and it was even relatively popular).

Star Trek: Voyager

A lighter approach to the ST concept? A re-hash of TNG ideas with weaker characters? An attempt at creating a negative continuity ST series for those who loathed DS9? I cannot hate it, but watching again this one was a bit of an ordeal. I do have fond memories of watching this one when I was in NL doing my MA, because my all-female housemates worshipped Janeway as their gooddess fictional figure (food for thought: three girls, one from Palestine; one from Ukraine and one from Russia, and both of Israeli descents. We used to have dinner and watch Voyager together. The world surely has changed, uh?).

Star Trek: Enterprise

I loved the concept but the first two seasons tried too hard to be EXTREMELY bland and the third season was exasperating (but no, I'd prefer it to get run over by a truck. A scooter, on the other hand...). Season 4 was mostly written by Dominic de Soto (R.I.P., good sir) and was great in its canon-solving episodes. Besides, I really liked Shran (the Andorian) and Trip Tucker. I felt very sad when this ended and the whole franchise went into limbo, but I also felt that I was getting too old (mid-'20s) for this type of SF. I remember watching this as a late night show together with some friends and trekkie fans, some of them not being here anymore due to life matters. I have some bitter-sweet memories about it, indeed.

Star Trek: Discovery

Oh dear...I initially avoided the modern Alex Kurtzman-produced series like the plague because the brief commentaries I initially read were making me feel embarrassed. The first two seasons of this series are childish non-sense trying to dive deep into canon lore while apparently pandering to so-called "Woke" themes and crowds (...I am old enough to know a different concept associated to the W-word). The third series is not awful (...not too much), and the fourth series actually attempts to address a new topic for a ST series: first contact with non-humanoid, highly intelligent but also incredibly powerful aliens. The fifth season could have been nice because they expanded upon an idea from TNG that I actually liked (let's call it "Anthropomorphic panspermia", which anyway was recycled from e.g. Macross and other sources). It ended up being rather bland. Blah, and watched this one for mere completist purposes by myself.

Star Trek: Picard

First two seasons were a torture, and I would have snapped Patrick Stewart's neck because it is more or less obvious that he was the main culprit behind all the problems ("I want a pretentious psychological drama!"). The first season rehashes various boring SF tropes at a ridiculously slow pace. Season 2 is just an unmitigated disaster (poor writing, horrible plot, etc. etc.). Season 3 is TNG's and DS9's final season, panders to trekkies by solving many plots left aside in those series, and generally presents good writing, pace, etc. I found memorable the scene in which Patrick Stewart broke off character and insulted LeVar Burton on his tastes in wine (OK, this is a highly convoluted reference, so I will explain it on request). I nevertheless dread at the idea of a sequel/legacy series including Jake Crasher, who has been written to be 10 times more annoying than Wesley Crusher (...don't faint after reading this part). Same goal as per previous entry: completist purposes.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Animated series for frat boy trekkies fans. It has a lot of trash humour and some intelligent ideas, and really abounds with obscure references to canon/trek lore. It is actually fun from the second season onwards, when the authors realise that their target audience are probably frat boy trekkies rather than man-child trekkies (I am neither, by the way, and I agree with William Shatner's advertisement's punchline). It gets quite interesting when it fixes some of the canon lingering threads, e.g. "How does Ferengi-nor actually join the federation?". Aside this, I did spend some time in my country's navy and my experience is that small ships are much like the Cerritos, frankly. I believe that this series would have also driven Roddenberry nuts, so I cannot really dislike it (...and in one episode they reveal that chief O'Brien is the most important man in Federation's history!). Best viewed after a few beers, and yes, I had a senior officer who was like J'ax (sp? the Bajorian security officer).

Star Trek: Prodigy

Another animated series for kids and their parents. I watched it with nephews and nieces, and they loved the mix of aspects more targeted to children (e.g. the characters' personalities) and the gentle but well-done introductions to trek lore. It acts as an unofficial but well-written sequel to VOY, and somehow manages to offer a good rendition of Chakotay. I am sure that they axed it because it was carrying the legacy well, and it might have attracted new audiences to the actually struggling franchise.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

I am adoring this series for its anime slice of life/fluffy feelings style. When they try to get the "good SF story" part right, the series is just OK. Still, if I can watch SF with my father on a cold winter night and get fuzzy nostalgia feelings, Paramount has created something valid. I adore the cast, even if they all give off this strong "off character" vibe (e.g. Chris Pike was briefly shown as a highly meditative captain; Anson Mount plays him like a mellow "straight man" out of a comedy). Let's see how it pans out. Fun? Yes, often. Trek? Hm, sometimes. But A sub-space Rapsody is *gloriously camp*.

Other stuff (Am i forgetting some series?):

- I think that I can enjoy an episode of ST if I have some acquaintance that can find it interesting/stimulating. I am old enough (and educated enough...) that I can really only enjoy some literary SF, on the intellectual
side. Sorry, but adults finding ST episodes "intellectually stimulating" should read more (in a number of subjects, of course). Then again, Roddenberry was convinced that forming connections with others was a crucial
goal to reach, for a decent life, so there certainly are some good reasons for watching new episodes with people (also, my father is sporting a coiff like Anson Mount/Pike, now!);

- Kurtzman is working on Star Trek: StarFleet Academy, a project that was mulled over by producers for decades. It should be a Young Adult (YA) series with Kurtzman at the helm, so I am expecting awful things;

- I have zero interest in the possible new movies, but let's see how they will be. Let's just say that I think that Jean Todt is the most fortunate man in the planet, ahem;

- Prodigy has zero chances to be resurrected, Discovery is over, Lower Decks will have a fifth and final season this September. Maybe the franchise is deflating again, but I have this nagging feeling that the
head honchos at Paramount may have no clue on what concepts to expand upon;

- Aside Darmok and a few other episodes about language(s) and aliens, I think that Hoshi Sato was influential on my career path (but I do minimal work on LLMs). I mean, she invented the universal translator and even if
she was underwritten as a character, she often came out as the arrogant but praise-worthy linguist genius ("I will find a job because I am a prodigy!" or something). How not to love her?

- Vulcans are basically space elves believing in medieval logic without actually understanding it. As a child I found them interesting, and Leonard Nimoy's often sneering gaze was "fascinating". As an adult, every
mention of the word "logic" by a Vulcan gives me butt herpes (I mean, I actually teach the subject to linguistics students). Writers of ST, make an effort of reading on the subjects you like to misrepresent in your shows, please. Some of
your ideas were outdated in the 1960s, let alone in the 23rd/24th/32nd centuries. Also, develop better and more rounded alien cultures (e.g. Cardassians);

- Patrick Stewart should apologise to Jean-Luc Picard, before his final moment comes ("Jean-Luc, I admit it: you were right, I was wrong. So,..."). We all know why;

- I kinda like the IDW comics, though. No idea why, I swear.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Star Trek: The Original Series

As an adult, I can see its historical merits and its attempts to propose a literary quality to stories, but that's all I can appreciate about this series, honestly.

Yeah, there's a lot of cringeworthy stuff here and it's hard to appreciate it in light of the extreme quality of later series. I actually prefer the Animated Series because it felt like it ditched enough of the cringe, and also does a better job of portraying alien species rather than simply everything being a human in makeup or a dog in a costume.

The movies are actually pretty great, we get tons of hilarious character development scenes in the one with the whales.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

I cannot hate this series because my teen self spent many sleepless night, trying to watch it; the uneven quality is however there, and so is Wesley Crasher.

Was my fave series for a long time. There's enough good episodes that I think struggling through the Wesley episodes isn't awful. It is deeply unfortunate they tried to introduce a "kid" character to make it appealing to a young audience, which missed the point of what even the appeal was to younger audiences. Making him deeply unlikeable made the whole thing backfire spectacularly. The TNG movies are of highly variable quality from what I remember, though.

Star Trek: DS9

The top episodes are splendid, and I'd absolutely marry Nana' Visitor even now (OK, if bigamy was legal). The tonal shift from the first part to the second part is almost traumatising and, in some aspects, I preferred Babylon 5.

I used to think this was solidly mid-tier, relying a bit much on Worf and O'Brien's presence to win over TNG's audience, but on a rewatch, I came to really, really like what this series developed and I was a bit frightened to discover it had overtaken TNG as my fave of the TV series, even though it ditches the Star Trek series a fair bit! The cast is great, the storylines are memorable, Jake and Nog are far less obnoxious than Wesley... "In the Pale Moonlight" may have some of the best bits in the series as a whole honestly, Garak steals the show.

Star Trek: Voyager

A lighter approach to the ST concept? A re-hash of TNG ideas with weaker characters? An attempt at creating a negative continuity ST series for those who loathed DS9?

There's some good characters and it eventually picks up steam (Seven of Nine's a fantastic addition to the show), but the early episodes are a slog. I honestly dislike this one because of an early episode where it explicitly states effect can happen before cause and that's why they encountered a copy of their ship, etc, and I loathe Star Trek's at times clumsy use of time travel like this.

Star Trek: Picard

First two seaons were a torture

Ditto, it's largely awful.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Animated series for frat boy trekkies fans. It has a lot of trash humour and some intelligent ideas, and really abounds with obscure references to canon/trek lore.

While I enjoy it, I always feel like I would enjoy it more if we had an animated Star Trek that hit the same vibe as TNG or DS9 and kept the same level of seriousness. The only other animated series was the original one that suffered from production values of the time, and one that's alright but obviously aimed more at kids. It feels at times "what if we had South Park humor but in Star Trek" and it's usually pretty decent, but it leaves me wanting a more serious adult series with this level of production values.

Makes me think of how there's Japanese produced X-Men anime; the production values are amazing but the plot is actually kinda bad compared to the western produced stuff, I'd like to see the best of both worlds at some point.

Star Trek: Prodigy

It acts as an unofficial but well-written sequel to VOY, and somehow manages to offer a good rendition of Chakotay. I am sure that they axed it because it was carrying the legacy well, and it might have attracted new audiences to the actually struggling franchise.

Hahaha. Yeah, I only caught a few episodes, but it was pretty decent for what it was. It's likely it was simply too expensive to produce for an unknown payoff in bringing new fans into the fold...

[Air Master Burst]

Makes me think of how there's Japanese produced X-Men anime; the production values are amazing but the plot is actually kinda bad compared to the western produced stuff, I'd like to see the best of both worlds at some point.

Have you seriously not seen X-Men 97 yet?!

I think that Hoshi Sato was influential on my career path (but I do minimal work on LLMs). I mean, she invented the universal translator and even if
she was underwritten as a character, she often came out as the arrogant but praise-worthy linguist genius ("I will find a job because I am a prodigy!" or something). How not to love her?

Enterprise had my favorite overall crew of any Star Trek because they were all actually fairly competent (except useless-ass Malcolm).

Phlox is the greatest medical talent in the entire Star Trek canon and it isn't even close.