Come January, all the classic Trek shows will be gone from Netflix… which is a bit of a shame because those are the best quality versions of those shows being played on what remains a top-tier streaming service in terms of streaming quality and ease of use. The only place where you could catch the first and last episodes in their original uncut 2-hour formats rather than the abridged 2-parters that Paramount Plus has under their belt, this has been the main thing that kept bringing me back to Netflix every so often.
Now all that is gone next month and what’s left for me on Netflix? I’ve already seen Cobra Kai, I don’t care for their remaining original content, most of the Power Rangers stuff is up on Youtube, and I only occasional dip into the WWE stuff in order to watch an old PPV from decades ago for the sake of research. It seems like the universe is going out of its way to keep me away from mainstream entertainment.
Which I have no problem with, by the way. Because mainstream entertainment has no interest in me, anyway…
For those who haven’t gotten the memo, apparently Skydance – the new management at Paramount – has decided to move on from the long-dormant Kelvin timeline of Star Trek films (the 2009 JJ Abrams movie, Into Darkness, and Beyond) and opt for a fresh take on the franchise. Well, that’s mighty big of them to admit it after years of teasing pitches that went nowhere and tapping directors who’d stay in the lobby for a bit before moving on to greener pastures elsewhere.
I mean, was I hoping for another Chris Pine-helmed Trek movie with that cast? Actually, you know what? I kinda was. I make no qualms about admitting that I liked those movies. They were perfectly fine films for what they were – and yes, even Star Trek Into Darkness has its moments despite being the weakest of the bunch. I mean… shame that Beyond didn’t make the box office numbers the folks in charge wanted, but that’s on them for trying to turn Star Trek into something it wasn’t rather than try to make it, you know, Star Trek… something that even Chris Pine suggested; lower budgets, stronger stories.
When Star Wars became a hit and Paramount decreed that Star Trek would be a motion picture, they didn’t make another Star Wars with Star Trek colors. They made a very cerebral film with pastel shades and some Star Trek terminology… and then they made The Wrath Of Khan, a Star Trek movie that people actually liked unless your name is Gene Roddenberry, who was probably upset that nobody used his JFK time travel plot as a movie idea. The problem these days isn’t that you couldn’t make that type of movie or television series work today. It’s that nobody is willing to try… at least, not within Star Trek.
Could you make a Star Trek movie work in 2026? Sure, you can. It involves making a Star Trek movie that’s true to its core tenants and also features a compelling stories with compelling characters. Something it’s done in the past and can do again. It just requires people who are capable of crafting such stories.
So yeah, a part of me is sad that we’re not getting another Kelvin Trek because I’d very much like to see where that universe goes from there… but on the other hand, now that we’ve definitively closed the book on this thing, we can all move on with our lives and look forward to the next big thing in Trek lore… whiny fans whining about why those hacks at Paramount aren’t making their Legacy show or some bullshit like that, I don’t know.
It is October 31st of the year 2025… and it’s time for the semi-monthly declaration that I have NOT watched the Section 31 streaming video motion picture film starring Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh… because a buddy of mine who occasionally offers gag gifts for my birthday – which would have been the perfect time to strike with a disc copy of said movie – opted instead to give me a DVD set of the original TMNT cartoon.
If he had sent Section 31, you would probably be reading my thoughts on said film. But he didn’t. So you’re not. And so the tradition continues… such as it is.
In the meantime, however, if the current Trek television product isn’t getting you excited, might I suggest you redirect your forward sensors towards IDW’s comic output? They recently put out the first issue of their new series, Star Trek: The Last Starship, and it’s actually quite the hard sell for its overall concept that has me genuinely excited for new Trek. Also worthy of mention is their Red Shirts miniseries, which has been tremendous fun.
Maybe some day, I’ll give these further shine – and maybe talk up more of that Khan show, which I need to catch up on – but it goes to show that you don’t necessarily need Star Trek on screen to find good quality stories. As long as there’s enough quality material to dive into, I am more than content in putting off… what were we talking about again?
For the record, I have yet to open that TMNT DVD set… I’m almost afraid to revisit it.
Contrary to the title above, this post has nothing to do with Joe Hendry… although I heard that he beat Miz at a house show some time ago. No doubt, we’re waiting for the right opportunity to give Miz his win back on Netflix, but enough about that. Let’s get to some other quick bits.
Although if you want me to mention some other piece of Joe Hendry-related info… I’m not so sure that he’s getting that John Cena match… unless TNA somehow forks over the brinks truck to convince John to make a stop at Bound For Glory or something… but then that will overshadow… anything in that fucking company… like NXT superstar Trick Williams being your TNA World Champion for… some reason. Because WWE, there we go. I’m done with the rasslin’ bits. Let’s move on.
So we’ve just concluded the third season of Strange New World this past week… an interesting piece of business if there ever was one. I’ll hold off my thoughts on the season for a later time and instead look forward to the next television offering coming up in the form of Starfleet Academy… something I wish was just compilations of some kid’s let’s play of the old PC game redone with proper acting bits, but alas, it’s a continuation of 32nd century Star Trek. I’m sure some folks have a problem with this. My only concern is whether the show is any good. If it is, I keep watching. If it sucks, I’ll move on to something else.
I will say that the recently announced Voyager game intrigues me somewhat. I’ve never been that big into strategy games – I’ve played a few, but that’s about the extent of it – however, the ability to dictate the actions and journey of Voyager and possibly going against the grain of how the series progress is fascinating (no pun intended) and giving players the choice of whether Tuvix lives or dies is a tempting selling point if nothing else. More of this stuff and less mobile garbage, please. Thanks.
In case you missed it, Hasbro is putting out a “new” version of Mighty Morphin dubbed Re-Ignition, which is just the old MMPR show with a slightly new title card and new Mighty Morphin minutes that the Power Rangers Youtube channel also upload as shorts if that’s all you want to watch. My guess is that somebody visited the Kitchen Nightmares Youtube channel, saw that they were able to repackage the same episode ten times over without diminishing returns, and figured that they could do the same with MMPR.
For curious parties, you can still watch the original uploads of MMPR that were put up years ago and the quality isn’t all that different from whatever they’re putting up now. Supposedly, it’s been upscaled to a higher resolution, but it doesn’t look any better than before. It’s just a lazy re-up. As much as people hate the reversioned MMPR from 2010, at least they TRIED to freshen up the product so that it didn’t come across as a glorified rehash of vintage material. You can’t even say that much with THIS latest rehash.
It is August 31st of the year 2025 and I have NOT watched the Section 31 streaming video motion picture film starring Academy Award Winner Michelle Yeoh.
I dodged a bullet… because I may or may not have mentioned that if a certain someone I knew had send me a DVD or Blu-Ray copy of this thing, then I would compel myself to watch it. I had a Paramount Plus subscription, but I mostly used that for Strange New Worlds and some old Trek reruns… and also some Turtles stuff.
Lo and behold – that certain someone who would send me gag gifts decided on a proper birthday gift instead – the complete TMNT 80s cartoon on DVD that he probably bought from one of the Toys R Us stores that are shutting down in Quebec… yes, it seems like even Canadian ownership couldn’t keep the TRU train running. Personally, I think it was the decision to ditch their video game stock in favor of bringing back another dead brand (HMV) to sell some minor stuff that you could probably get cheaper elsewhere.
So, yes… much to the chagrin of anyone who thinks this gag is starting to be a bit tiresome, the cycle continues.
Last year, Paramount released the first clip of the then-upcoming third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which is the continuing adventures of Captain Pike and his hair on board the U.S.S. Enterprise. Said clip was not from the season premiere episode, which was to resolve a cliffhanger from the previous season involving the Gorn… but rather an unrelated episode where four of the crew were injected with a serum that transformed them into Vulcans… and supposedly, that’s where the “hilarity” ensured.
Needless to say, this got a mixed reaction… and also I didn’t care for it…
This was one of the many big swings that the producers promised for this season. And sure, why not? You can have your big swings… except nobody ever mentioned anything about these swings actually hitting anything. And this is something that soured me on the show during its second season – we need our Spock comedy hour, we need our musical episode – BIG SWINGS… big misses. I thought the Spock turning human plot point was fascinating, but was played for “laughs” and left me wondering when this would be funny… note to any aspiring comedy writers: NEVER put your audience in a situation where they have to ask when your shit gets funny.
So… the third season comes along and… this is the eighth episode of the season; by which point the closest things to what the showrunners wish to perceive as “big swings” is a Trelane cosplayer doing a fake wedding and a holodeck adventure that’s no better or worse than any other Star Trek that takes place on a holodeck… I suppose if you want to count the documentary-esque episode as a “big swing,” then go for it. I thought it was largely dull and uninspired when it should have been thought-provoking.
And then we get this pile of shit… which may or may not be worse than The Way To Eden… you know… the one with the hippies.
The difference between the two episodes is that at least the Eden writers had some idea on how to write space hippies. The people who are writing modern Star Trek can’t even script these Vulcans right; they just come across as emotionless assholes for the sake of being emotionless assholes. Even the Vulcans on Enterprise never came across this poorly. And in watching all this stupidity unfold, at no point did I find myself laughing. Nor did I crack a smile or a chuckle. Hell, I wasn’t even screaming in agony… I was largely bored. This felt like a complete and utter waste of time.
Just about the only thing that worked for me is the budding working relationship between Kirk and Scotty as they try to keep Vulcan La’an from starting a war with everyone… because that is logical… or that’s being an asshole. Fuck if I know. All I know is that those guys work well together; maybe you should put them on a ship or something, so they can work together or something.
So yeah… that was a big swing, alright…
A swing… and a huge, MASSIVE miss.
Please tell me that I need to turn my brain off in order to be entertained by this, so I can calmly reply that if I were to turn my brain off for this thing, I would have found the cure for insomnia that’s even more effective than a 20-minute HHH promo.
P.S. I would be remiss in not mentioning the post credit bit involving Ethan Peck’s Spock and Patton Oswald, but that would involve giving Patton Oswald the light of day. Two mentions of that individual’s name is more than enough and he does not deserve a speck more.
P.P.S. I would rather watch The Way To Eden than sit through that horrible musical episode from last season, too.
I think I have nothing left to say… other than it’s on my list…
Sorry about the incomplete Slammiversary posting that I had completely forgot about. I was supposed to have it done soon, but then lost interest and forgot about it. I’m usually diligent on this stuff, but I’ve been preoccupied as of late.
Good news is that we’re fairly on track with videos. No set schedule for the rest of the year save for maybe a couple key dates in October (the Hell’s Kitchen Wii review as well as knocking off the three DS Castlevanias), but truthfully, I’ve been starting on getting stuff ready for 2026 so that by the time we’re ready to get started there, there’ll be no setbacks.
Finally, I saw the latest Strange New Worlds… the one where everyone turns into a Vulcan and also guest starring Patton Oswald because god forbid we can’t have a show without that fellow around… anyway, the less said, the better.
Later.
P.S. I have a poll up… for a friend. Click here to check it out.
P.P.S. New review will be up on Saturday. Feeling a bit sick and also wanted to add a bit or two to vid before going ahead. And then next week, it’s Star Trek’s 59th anniversary and we’re doing… nothing of significance.
I just want to spend a couple minutes to post a quick bit about how much I’ve been enjoying this third season of Strange New Worlds as of late. Yes, we had another wacky Spock episode that these people like to write because they’re such uncreative hacks (with another one on the way – fuck me), but beyond that, there have been some decent episodes.
Naturally, the season premiere puts the Gorn to bed so that we can forget about them… except not really because of Captain Plot Device and the Gorn babies in her. We introduce a new guy in the second episode for the sole purpose of killing him in the fifth. We have an episode that gives us Jim Kirk’s first taste of actual command and it goes about as well as you’d expect… hell, even the holodeck episode was actually a fun little romp.
Yes, there are some things that is keeping on yellow alert when it comes to this show. And apparently, my Paramount Plus subscription goes up just in time for them to lay down the other comedic Spock episode because the universe hates me… but otherwise, I can safely say that Season 3 is a far deal better than the second season and its atrocious swings at stupidity.
dtm666 