I wouldn’t necessarily blame the writers for the shift. The bigwigs making the decision believe that using existing IP means that half the marketing job is already done.
Look at Babylon 5 vs DS 9- the networks aired them opposite each other and DS9 dominated. Even though ds9 was more or less inspired by an early show bible for bab5, that was left with UPN.
The problem is… people know what Star Trek is, and when it’s “not trek”… well, people walk away pissed.
Edit to add: with the prevalence of streaming on demand, there’s a lower amount of completion. If DS9 and Bab5 came out today, most of us would happily watch both.
I wouldn’t necessarily blame the writers for the shift. The bigwigs making the decision believe that using existing IP means that half the marketing job is already done.
I don’t blame them for the shift at all, that’s all on the higher ups who only see dollars. I do however blame them for doing things like not engaging with the source material and actively changing character personalities to fit their own idea of the story. Specially when it is so drastic that it goes against the overall story and it has to be retconned or explained in unbelivable ways.
I wouldn’t necessarily blame the writers for the shift. The bigwigs making the decision believe that using existing IP means that half the marketing job is already done.
Look at Babylon 5 vs DS 9- the networks aired them opposite each other and DS9 dominated. Even though ds9 was more or less inspired by an early show bible for bab5, that was left with UPN.
The problem is… people know what Star Trek is, and when it’s “not trek”… well, people walk away pissed.
Edit to add: with the prevalence of streaming on demand, there’s a lower amount of completion. If DS9 and Bab5 came out today, most of us would happily watch both.
I don’t blame them for the shift at all, that’s all on the higher ups who only see dollars. I do however blame them for doing things like not engaging with the source material and actively changing character personalities to fit their own idea of the story. Specially when it is so drastic that it goes against the overall story and it has to be retconned or explained in unbelivable ways.
(Yes I’m still bitter about The Witcher show)
And their constant virtue signalling that they need for marginalized groups,