I think he meant that we’d be the ones blowing it up, or the ROC would do it themselves, and I think that’s probably true.

We do know that Archer is probably from Utica, or at least not from Albany, given that he’s never seen using the phrase “steamed hams” to refer to hamburgers.

I do the same thing in reverse, I live in Zee territory but I always pronounced the ZX Spectrum as Zed-Ex

“It’s not the train that’s expensive. It’s the plane that’s not expensive enough,” the CEO of SNCF Jean-Pierre Farandou said in 2021.

i.e. no, train ticket prices aren’t going down

I don’t think it’s fair to say Star Wars is stagnant, it’s fine the way it is. You could argue it’s a shame they never made more than three Star Wars movies, just like how it sucks that there was no Star Trek content produced between the time Voyager ended and Strange New Worlds premiered, but I’m happy we have two high-quality franchises that didn’t make embarrassing trash in shameless cash grabs. The only missed opportunity is that we never got a TNG film, it would have been almost impossible to screw up.

You really haven’t heard of Francisco “Pancho” Shatner? He was executed by the PRI in 1971 but till then he was one of Mexico’s finest actors.

Right, but my point is that it still holds up even then. It still holds up with the original effects, too. Maybe the death of the mid-budget production is the real issue here, because if I were running the show I would aggressively slash the fuck out of the VFX budget to make room for additional episodes over a longer shooting schedule, and the idea of sacrificing eye candy and having the show just look decent doesn’t really fly anymore. I think even a showrunner with serious weight to throw around would still promptly be fired for shooting a science fiction show that went 5 to 10 episodes without a major action setpiece because he wanted to film people calmly talking about ethical dilemmas in a room with flat, even TV lighting.

I agree with your points about overworking the cast and crew, but that’s not actually necessary either: it’s well within Paramount’s power to spend the money on doing it right and take the time on doing it right and treat people like they aren’t animals. And if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Ultimately, there is one person at whom the buck stopped and the decision was made—there always is—and I still want to smear dog shit on the door handles of his car.

Don’t get me wrong, SNW is great: in my mind, it’s the first good Star Trek show to broadcast since VOY went off the air (not a high bar to clear, I know, but it’s still meant as a compliment), and I just wish there was more of it instead of the other stupid shit Paramount incinerates money on.

Right, but at the height of TNG (and DS9, to a lesser extent) you were effectively guaranteed somewhere between 0 and 2 bad episodes a season.

Very interesting that you describe your journey using almost identical language to how people describe their relationship with faith. Is that why you’re part of the LaRouche cult, or did you decide that you identify with genocide denial, Holocaust truthing, anti-semitism, and neo-fascism all on your own?

One thing to keep in mind, especially with science fiction and fantasy shows is that they take an enormous amount of time and resources to make in UHD. It’s a very unforgiving medium that shows up every tiny flaw in prosthetic makeup, costume construction and set and prop fabrication. The primary shooting takes much, much longer for each episode, 1.5 to 2 times what it did in the 90s.

Yes, they can take short cuts but there is a price for it in terms of quality.

So does film. TNG was shot on 35mm, and even if you assume they were using cheap, shitty film with large grain, that’s still equivalent to well over 3,000 lines of vertical resolution in digital terms. Drop some extra cash on decent 35mm and it makes UHD look like a joke. Obviously I’m aware that they were then converting it to videotape for TV and expected certain shortcuts to be blended by crushing the resolution, but we can watch the film transfers officially now—and bootlegs have been circulating since before that, too, and the show looked fine. All that is to say that TNG was shot with the same considerations in mind that SNW has, but they cranked out 20+ episodes a season for 7 years and it still holds up (especially after season 1).

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, just the premise: they could do it the way they used to, but people who wear expensive suits would rather spend the money on themselves. Let’s not entertain the idea that it was ever anything else. The reason I asked who’s responsible is not because I don’t understand the motivation, I do, it’s money. I asked so I can smear dog shit on the door handle of his car.

These 10 episode seasons are killing me, who’s responsible for us not getting 24 episodes?