• Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    4 months ago

    True, but Star Trek was mostly episodic, even when there were story arcs, before Discovery too. I think the problem is more about TV shows, especially sci-fi shows, leaning very hard on the season-long mystery plot arc. Because then you’re putting all your money down on a single story and if that story isn’t one of the more popular ones, you take a much bigger risk.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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      4 months ago

      Yeah, I agree with that. Making your series into some sort of make-or-break mega-movie-ish thing can work sometimes… but it’s not the appropriate way to tell every single story, and producers seem to finally be starting to realize that. Personally, I blame the MCU and the related series for that being a screenplay writing fad for so long.

      Fwiw, I do think SNW has largely nailed the format for the modern era - mostly episodic, but there’s a higher-level background plot that gets touched on every once in a while, and here and there you’ll find an episode purely focused on that overarching plot. And I also think my enjoyment of DS9 and Voyager back in the day stems from that broadly-comparable series presentation.

      Edit: and LD, of course. LD is great!

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        4 months ago

        I agree. I think SNW figured out the right formula for a modern Star Trek show. LD too really. It also has that combination and it works.