Star Trek: TNG vs DIS


believeinya's avatar
I dont know if you know Red Letter Media


But they have a really great series about their favorite tv show, Star Trek: The Next Generation - their top 5 and then the top 10:


Its so good, I am actually rewatching this now. I dont thinks there are many YouTube videos I ever rewatch.

My favorite part of this little series is actually in the first episode of this series. Its around 24:00.


On Star Trek: The Next Generation, episodes can be grouped into the following themes:

1. Problems with Space Anomalies
2. Interpersonal Relationships / Love Stories
3. Space Politics / Interspecies Conflicts
4. Lighthearted episodes about Daily Life
5. Alien Abductions / Threads / Myseriouos Illness
6. Morality Episodes / Right vs Wrong
7. Ethical Dilemmas
8. Guest Spot Character Brings Problems
9. Wacky Situations
10. Learning to understand someone different
11. Danger / Survival Situations
12. Mysteries and Whodunits

And if you make the same list for Star Trek: Discovery, it looks like this:

1. Violence


I dont think one could point out better why I like or love Star Trek TOS, TNG, VOY and ENT (DS9 not so much but thats a different discussion) as well as the de-facto Star Trek fanshow "The Orville", not to mention also the movie "Galaxy Quest" which parodies all kinds of SF but really mainly Star Trek, and really is the funniest movie I've ever watched - but absolutely hate DIS.

In case you wonder why I dont like DS9: on the other shows, if an episode is weak, I can simply skip it. On DS9, you cant. Not a problem if the show would keep a certain level, but really, like all Star Trek shows, it doesnt.

Because unlike other shows like this, like for example Babylon 5, which starts weak but gets stronger and stronger, or Battlestar Galactica (2004) which starts extremely strong but first slowly then ever faster starts to decay, until the ending which is just a mess, DS9 stays relatively mediocre throughout, with many weak episodes that I just dont want to suffer through more than once. In general I like Cpt Sisko, Odo and Quark stuff, but hardly anything of the rest. Especially Dr Bashir and Jadzira Dax are just obnoxious bores. Heck even Worf is boring on DS9.

Thats why I've watched DS9 only once and never again.


EDIT: I misremembered, its their top 5 (of each guy) in the first two episodes and then the top 10 in the next two.

Comments18
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WanderingWolf09's avatar
I loved Redlettermedia's Re-View on Star Trek Picard. That was pretty entertaining and enlightening for someone like me who's only had casual exposure to Star Trek.

when it comes to TNG and DIS (yes, I'm noticing you're not using the other abbreviation, LOL), there is no comparison, because DIS is not Star Trek, it's Kurtzman Trek.
kpearce's avatar
I loved TNG, I was actually looking last week for the series, to re-watch again, difficult to locate.
KaneLivesInDeath's avatar
Netflix, Hulu or CBS All Access.

Take your pick.
kpearce's avatar

Don't have Netflix, don't have cable TV, I'll look into Hulu I guess.

KaneLivesInDeath's avatar

CBS All Access is a streaming service like the other two.

kpearce's avatar
Yeah can't get Hulu in Canada, maybe I bend to Netflix?
KaneLivesInDeath's avatar
LizzyChrome's avatar
I'm old enough to remember when "Enterprise" was new. ANY "Star Trek" material since then (bar the Voyager relaunch novels) has looked like gold in comparison. 

I for one am enjoying STD. It's vastly improved in its third season so far. 
Ferres's avatar
STD Season 3 has gotten a lot better though. Tig Notaro and Michelle Yeoh despite not actual regulars bring a lot to the show. Rest of the crew are on the generic side.

With DS9. I feel like Ezri came in a little too late, she blended a lot better with the show and was easier to do lighter comedic episodes with.

You can now see the Ezri archetype in more current trek characters.
believeinya's avatar
Yes really liked Ezri but she's only in the last season.
Rick-4F's avatar
DIS???

Star Trek: Discovery ->

ST: Disco ->

-> STD

Last part should say it all. ;p 
believeinya's avatar
Most STDs are cureable, though.
Rick-4F's avatar

Lol, my first laughter of the day. Thank you! ;)

SmashFang's avatar
Star Trek is a shell of it's former self.
Capt-Snowflake's avatar
So I'll admit to not reading all of your post. It seemed a bit disjointed to me and I lost interest pretty fast, but I'm a huge Star Trek fan so I had to weigh in. I love them all. The Next Generation. Deep Space 9. The Original Series. Discovery. I love them all. Mainly because the people that made them, the writers, the producers, they really seemed to love what they do. There seems to be a feel of artistry involved in all of the Star Trek series. 

The most recent one, Discovery, does seem to be an outlier. It clearly has some artistic differences with the other shows in the series, but I still love it. It still scratches the sci-fi itch in me that makes me love it so. 

It's funny, but I didn't like DS9 at first. I'm not sure why, but after watching it a few times, I realized how writer driven it was. All things being equal, those writers had fun with that series and that's what made it exceptional. They really took some liberties and made it a little more experimental of a show. Which made me love it all the more.  
Jphyper's avatar
I haven't seen Discovery and, after seeing the first episode when they aired it on regular TV, I'm not really all that interested. It purportedly takes place in the original timeline in order to pander to those who hated the Abrams films, but it retcons even more stuff than they did.

The design choices are hideous, both in terms of makeup and ship models. Whoever designed the Discovery should not have been hired, and whoever okayed it even more so. It is the ugliest spaceship I have ever seen. It also doesn't match other designs. I saw screenshots from a recent episode in which the original-series Enterprise appears side-by-side with Discovery. It couldn't be more obvious that they had different designers. They don't look like they belong in the same universe or time period, let alone the same fleet. As for the makeup, don't even get me started on the Klingons...