Good morning, gentle readers, and welcome to another installment of Because You Asked!
I know, I know, I know. I don’t do enough of them and thank you for forever pointing that out. My position on these little sound-offs is that – ahem – media is dead anyone, no one really reads for clarity any more, so why put in all the effort? I know, I know, I know: I’ve heard all of you suggesting that maybe my incorporating some kind of YouTube video would be good, and I’d love to. The issue there is that – once again – it takes time and money; and when you have neither sometimes the best you can do is … well … the best you can do. Right now, this is it; and I’ll keep you posted if that ever changes.
But … regarding the – ahem – recently cancellation notice for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy?
Honestly – and I do mean HONESTLY – I have no opinion of it.
Unlike Grace Randolph, I don’t believe it’s appropriate to do a review or offer a “professional” (or “semi-professional”) opinion on art if I haven’t seen it; and those of you who follow me closely both here and on social media know that I’ve refused to pay for a Paramount+ subscription, and my media requests for screeners have all gone un-replied to by the suits. That happens quite a lot, actually – not a big deal so far as I care – but as I haven’t seen so much as a single episode of the program I just don’t feel qualified to give my two cents on it. So … there’s that.
Again: I have seen snippets and followed some of the YouTubers who’ve done episode reactions, so I will say – as I’ve said before – that what suffices as authentic Star Trek from Alex Kurtzman and his merry band of conspirators just doesn’t quite look or sound or feel like the Trek I’m used to … and that’s perfectly okay. The universe is big enough to allow for different iterations to exist; and as I’m not paid to serve in any capacity on the franchise then – like all of you – I’m left with reacting to it. I’d offer that it hasn’t seemed … erm … heartless or even soulless as some have said: it just seems like it’s intended to be a kid’s show, honestly, and Trek – in that construct – doesn’t interest me. Furthermore, I don’t much watch shows that kinda/sorta cater to rampant involvement with the sexuality or preferences of the characters, so I tune out. If there’s nothing in it for me, then why watch?
But BECAUSE YOU ASKED (and that’s what this feature is about) I will offer a few words in reflection of the circumstances. That’s always fair game – it is life, after all? – and I’ll always have something to say about that.
To all of you who are angry about the cancellation and all of you who are blaming society, the internet, Paramount, and whoever else is on your personal shitlist today:
I’m right there with you.
Cancellation sucks.
It really does.
Yes, it’s like an arrow to the heart.
Pain shows that you’re alive, though, and IF YOU’RE ALIVE AND WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, then do something about it.
No, I’m not talking about setting up some online petition to demand Paramount put the show back in production. Those things rarely – RARELY – if ever result in any meaningful action; and about the best one could hope from that might be a bit of viral coverage from the mainstream media (who, despite what you might think, aren’t your friends).
What I am saying is that maybe you need to take a page out of the classic Trek playbook and actually WAGE A CAMPAIGN.
You see, Star Trek historically has always been kinda/sorta up against ‘the man.’ The suits have always wanted to cancel it in one way shape or form; and that was the very first lesson learned back in the days of the Gene Roddenberry original. The only way that series got the three seasons it did was because fans undertook a massive media campaign to keep it both in production and on-the-air. They didn’t around taking swipes at one side or the other on Twitter (didn’t exist), and they didn’t pen exhaustive posts on Facebook (didn’t exist) or BlueSky (didn’t exist) or anywhere else. They went right to the source – Paramount and Desilu and the network – and made them feel their pain.
No, it wasn’t terrorism, but it was coordinated, and it was continuous, and it was an unrelenting expression of passion for what was being taken away from them. Eventually, the suits relented … and you get the point. If you build it – meaning a campaign – then people will come.
The problem – so far as I see it – is that your – ahem – membership might not exactly be as vast and wide as you think it is. Paramount’s official statement on the show’s cancellation reflects the fact that Academy – despite how much you loved it – just wasn’t performing on any relevant BUSINESS metric, and entertainment – whether you like it or not – is a business. It must make money somehow. It has to achieve something that resembles a profit. I know, I know, I know: “viewing stats today aren’t like viewing stats were back then …” So long as you want to persist with a losing argument, then keep at it.
Me?
I’d rather encourage you to do what those classic Trek fans did.
Start a campaign.
Start telling your own stories in that universe.
Start fanfiction outlets specifically around these characters and the places they went.
If you can do this and prove that there is a market for it, then I’m telling you just as Paramount and its subsidiaries did back in the day that you will be rewarded. But you have to establish that there’s gold in them there hills … and just like Star Trek (1966-1969) couldn’t do on its own the fans will now have to respond to their own marching orders.
Again: it can be done.
Again: it will take MASSIVE effort.
But if it means as much to you as you’re saying it does online, then this should be easy peasie.
-- EZ
I know, I know, I know. I don’t do enough of them and thank you for forever pointing that out. My position on these little sound-offs is that – ahem – media is dead anyone, no one really reads for clarity any more, so why put in all the effort? I know, I know, I know: I’ve heard all of you suggesting that maybe my incorporating some kind of YouTube video would be good, and I’d love to. The issue there is that – once again – it takes time and money; and when you have neither sometimes the best you can do is … well … the best you can do. Right now, this is it; and I’ll keep you posted if that ever changes.
But … regarding the – ahem – recently cancellation notice for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy?
Honestly – and I do mean HONESTLY – I have no opinion of it.
Unlike Grace Randolph, I don’t believe it’s appropriate to do a review or offer a “professional” (or “semi-professional”) opinion on art if I haven’t seen it; and those of you who follow me closely both here and on social media know that I’ve refused to pay for a Paramount+ subscription, and my media requests for screeners have all gone un-replied to by the suits. That happens quite a lot, actually – not a big deal so far as I care – but as I haven’t seen so much as a single episode of the program I just don’t feel qualified to give my two cents on it. So … there’s that.
Again: I have seen snippets and followed some of the YouTubers who’ve done episode reactions, so I will say – as I’ve said before – that what suffices as authentic Star Trek from Alex Kurtzman and his merry band of conspirators just doesn’t quite look or sound or feel like the Trek I’m used to … and that’s perfectly okay. The universe is big enough to allow for different iterations to exist; and as I’m not paid to serve in any capacity on the franchise then – like all of you – I’m left with reacting to it. I’d offer that it hasn’t seemed … erm … heartless or even soulless as some have said: it just seems like it’s intended to be a kid’s show, honestly, and Trek – in that construct – doesn’t interest me. Furthermore, I don’t much watch shows that kinda/sorta cater to rampant involvement with the sexuality or preferences of the characters, so I tune out. If there’s nothing in it for me, then why watch?
But BECAUSE YOU ASKED (and that’s what this feature is about) I will offer a few words in reflection of the circumstances. That’s always fair game – it is life, after all? – and I’ll always have something to say about that.
To all of you who are angry about the cancellation and all of you who are blaming society, the internet, Paramount, and whoever else is on your personal shitlist today:
I’m right there with you.
Cancellation sucks.
It really does.
Yes, it’s like an arrow to the heart.
Pain shows that you’re alive, though, and IF YOU’RE ALIVE AND WILLING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, then do something about it.
No, I’m not talking about setting up some online petition to demand Paramount put the show back in production. Those things rarely – RARELY – if ever result in any meaningful action; and about the best one could hope from that might be a bit of viral coverage from the mainstream media (who, despite what you might think, aren’t your friends).
What I am saying is that maybe you need to take a page out of the classic Trek playbook and actually WAGE A CAMPAIGN.
You see, Star Trek historically has always been kinda/sorta up against ‘the man.’ The suits have always wanted to cancel it in one way shape or form; and that was the very first lesson learned back in the days of the Gene Roddenberry original. The only way that series got the three seasons it did was because fans undertook a massive media campaign to keep it both in production and on-the-air. They didn’t around taking swipes at one side or the other on Twitter (didn’t exist), and they didn’t pen exhaustive posts on Facebook (didn’t exist) or BlueSky (didn’t exist) or anywhere else. They went right to the source – Paramount and Desilu and the network – and made them feel their pain.
No, it wasn’t terrorism, but it was coordinated, and it was continuous, and it was an unrelenting expression of passion for what was being taken away from them. Eventually, the suits relented … and you get the point. If you build it – meaning a campaign – then people will come.
The problem – so far as I see it – is that your – ahem – membership might not exactly be as vast and wide as you think it is. Paramount’s official statement on the show’s cancellation reflects the fact that Academy – despite how much you loved it – just wasn’t performing on any relevant BUSINESS metric, and entertainment – whether you like it or not – is a business. It must make money somehow. It has to achieve something that resembles a profit. I know, I know, I know: “viewing stats today aren’t like viewing stats were back then …” So long as you want to persist with a losing argument, then keep at it.
Me?
I’d rather encourage you to do what those classic Trek fans did.
Start a campaign.
Start telling your own stories in that universe.
Start fanfiction outlets specifically around these characters and the places they went.
If you can do this and prove that there is a market for it, then I’m telling you just as Paramount and its subsidiaries did back in the day that you will be rewarded. But you have to establish that there’s gold in them there hills … and just like Star Trek (1966-1969) couldn’t do on its own the fans will now have to respond to their own marching orders.
Again: it can be done.
Again: it will take MASSIVE effort.
But if it means as much to you as you’re saying it does online, then this should be easy peasie.
-- EZ
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