posted
(This is gonna be a long one ) Many of you have, over the months, expressed frustration at the use of what's become known as the "Reset button". That is to say, the story ending with the status quo restored, and the cast proceeding the next week as if nothing unusual had happened.
TOS used the button every week. TNG used it copiously, but made exceptions in the introduction of a very loose "Borg Arc", and more clearly in Picard's recovery from assimilation, which even after "Family" was occasionally touched on. But in general you could shuffle the episodes, of a season at least, into any order and they'd still be fine. (Stardates aside of course!)
DS9 has been more brave. Plot strands develop slowly, and each season sees a shift in the backdrop to the stories.
Voyager however likes to reset. Early experiments with a "Kazon arc" were a dismal failure, ruining much of season 2, IMHO.
But is a reset button a good thing? Consider: It allows a sense of familiarity and comfort with the show's set-up and cast. We know where we are, and what to expect. I think the reset was one of the key items that helped TNG become so widely popular. Since dispelling with this, DS9 has found it much harder to grab an audience. Resetting may seem unrealistic, after all people change and politics changes too. The snag is that by stretching stories over arcs you force the viewer to consistently tune in to get the next paving stone along the path (as it were). If you miss one, or a few, it becomes difficult to regain the flow. More crucially, with a TNG you can pick one, pop it on the TV and you know you'll get a great story that will be self-contained. A 45-minute theatre if you like. I miss that from Trek! I enjoyed B5 for its arc, but by telling one large story you get yourself into trouble if it turns out to not to the viewer's taste. 26 different stories are more likely to appeal.
Why raise this now? Because the Fifth Franchise is forming somewhere out there people, and I'd like to know if I'm alone in wanting the next Federation starship to set sail with a reset button installed.
------------------ "To appear in an Ernie Wise play...is the final accolade" "Look at me and say that" "Accolade." "AH-hahaha!"
posted
The reset button was okay for TOS and TNG, but at this point it's tedious and annoying. If there's going to be a new series, we don't want it to be like anything previous, we want something new.
------------------ http://frankg.dgne.com/ Blitzwing: "If I want to know what's on your mind, I'll splatter it on the wall and see for myself!"
posted
Well, since we've already seen an arc show, we can avoid that in the future.
I think that one format that might work would be to introduce a much more personal set of arcs for each character, in the context of a ship seeking out new worlds. The plots may reset, but the characters continue to grow. TOS didn't do this, and TNG did it only sparingly with a few characters. DS9 has a bit more, but it, like B5, has spent its heavy arc episodes concentrating on plot, not character.
A standard episode would go something like this: an event driven A plot, with a character driven B plot that connects to B plots from previous episodes. The A plot ensures that there will be plenty of new things encountered, while the B plot provides the character growth that so many demand. New viewers can sit and enjoy an individual episode on the basis of the A plot, and hopefully be drawn in by the continuing nature of the B plot.
Having said that, I'm not sure if I want to see a new TNG type show just yet. DS9 is gearing up to leave is with a very interesting situation in the Alpha Quadrant, and I would like to see the next series deal with that. Of course, whether Paramount wants to revisit that or not is unknown. A DS9 followup would very likely fall into the same trap that Crusade has. Paramount may want to continue the story, but not the ratings. I'm pretty sure that any new show is going to have to bear the burden of supporting UPN, meaning lots of network interference, and a lot of pressure to make the show as popular as possible. I fear that will come at the expense of storytelling integrity.
------------------ "I'll turn everything around and confuse you. I'll fix it so you can't remember what was true." -- They Might Be Giants
posted
My only problem with the reset button is that in some episodes it seems a little unrealistic. When some major event happens, and then next week everyone carries on as if nothing unusual happened lately, I'm left scratching my head in confusion sometimes.
I would be most supportive of the kind of background B plot arc that Sol System mentioned, or a kind of background arc that involves some episodes but not all of them (such as the mythology episodes from X-Files, for those of you who follow that show).
------------------ "Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you." -Commander Riker, USS Enterprise
posted
The reset button problem became extremely annoying after "Chains of Command", because Picard was seriously affected by being tortured. However, it was never mentioned again for the rest of TNG. It should have taken Picard a very long time to deal with his experience, but by the next episode, he was just fine. Although the reset is a good premise, at times it can be quite frustrating.
------------------ Risk is our business! That's what this starship is all about....that's why we're aboard her!"
posted
Remove the reset button. We don't need it. If television/video was the only medium of receiving Star Trek, then we wouldn't be using this forum to discuss it. If fans get lost, the information is at their fingertips right on the web. I miss a few shows because of work and I catch up on what is happening here and other places. Also my UPN station repeats VOY's wednesday show on saturday and saturdays's DS9 on sunday. So they shows are repeatd if I miss a vital arc. Also missing one show of an arc doesn't make the arc incomprehensible.
------------------ I'm the only one who understands me, and I ire of my company. --Paul Cargile
posted
Although you make some very good points Montgomery, I still think reset buttons are a cop-out.
While keeping the status quo is good for new fans to not feel out of touch with the series, it cheapens the experience for long-time fans. I feel that DS9's courage in continuing storylines is it's greatest strength, and like Cargile said, if they wanna catch up, there's certainly ample information on the web to get them up to speed.
Although I guess it was inevitable in 'Year of Hell', I still felt frustrated and cheated when everything was back to normal as if nothing had ever happened.
One reset button that I thought was totally unnecessary was when Molly O'Brien reverted back to a little girl at the end of Time's Orphan. So what if she becomes a woman? wouldn't it have been interesting to see how the O'Briens would *excuse the term* re-assimilate her back into the family?
Basically, reset buttons are too easy an excuse for writers of the series. Especially when they want to radically change a character only to revert them back at the end of the episode, particularly where they have no memory of the occurrence.
And on the Gene Roddenberry bit, I must say that Star Trek wouldn't be what it has become in the last ten years if he was still in charge, and that's a fact. If he had had his way, we'd be seeing Captain Wesley Crusher, and who wants to see that?!
but seriously, I think Rick Berman was the turning point of the franchise, he made it what it is today.
posted
I shudder at the prospect of A and B plots. I've never liked that format, and I despise much of the middle of TNG year 5 for that reason. oooH! We're under attack by this weird space dust that eats duranium, but we've still time to go for a mud bath with Lwaxana! (HUUUUURRGGHH!)
Actually, I'm hard pressed to think of any time when TOS adopted such a format. It had sub-plots, not B-plots.
------------------ "To appear in an Ernie Wise play...is the final accolade" "Look at me and say that" "Accolade." "AH-hahaha!"
posted
Excalibur, Gene gave up the reins of TNG to Berman real early on in TNG, season two I think... most of the episodes he had control of were pretty ordinary, tell me one good episode from season one. If you're saying that you prefer the old stuff than the new stuff, then that's your perogative, but the quality in DS9 and Voyager now far surpass anything TNG ever had. The ratings aren't the be-all and end-all of good trek you know.
TNG were on a ratings high when it finished, and Star Trek will never have ratings like that again. Comparing ratings now to then is pointless, and proves nothing.
posted
That may be true, but might I point out the most recent Voyager dissapointment. "The Fight", has nothing over any TNG episode. I'd venture that the episodes of TNG's Season 5, were better than VOY's, up to this point. The quality of Sfx has gone up, but has the quality of the episode in general?
------------------ "We choose to do this and more. Not because it is easy, but because it is hard." -- John F. Kennedy
posted
I sort of agree w/ what Sol said, but I'm not sure if I completely understand what he's gettiong at. Here's what I'd like to see: No obvious resets. I mean, there can certainly be episodes where the events do not carry into the next ep, but I agree that it's dumb when they pull a stunt like "Time's Orphan", where they manage to completely fix everything at the end. And they do that all too often.
I want to see a show w/ a lot of arcs, but drawn-out ones. Not necessarily things like the beginning of DS9's sixth season, or thes upcoming last nine eps. Things more like the Borg arc, where we get an ep or two each season. However, almost every ep would be part of one arc or another. There would only be the occasional stand-alone.
And, that's about all I can think of now... :-)
------------------ "I fart in your general direction!" -John Cleese, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
posted
Around season 2 and 3, B5 used to be good at doing arc stories that still managed to containmuch of the relevent back-plot for those unfamiliar with the show. Even when it didn't contain back-plot info, the episodes could often be understood on their own (I'm sure non-fans know whats going on in Severed Dreams for example) By season 4, JMS had completly lost that. Every ep was just one chain in a sotry, rather than being a self-contained experienve, You missed an ep, you got lost. On the other hand, season 4 B5 (and later DS9's) have often been written as if they are dealing with an intelligent audience who doesn't need to be beaten around the head with information. The Face of the Enemy for example hardly contains any exposition (apart from bester's speech) but you can work out what's going on.
Wouldn't you say that a reset-button is in a way treating the audience as if they aren't clever enought to understand a long-story? Or worse, that if they want an ongoing story they should read a book?
------------------ 'It's okay to only know three chords but God, put them in the right order' -Hank Hill
posted
I might like reset buttons when it brings back a dead character ("Who Mourns for Morn?"--not exactly dead, but everyone thought he was). But I don't agree that reset buttons grab a bigger audience. The X-Files has plenty of ratings, and (as far as I know) the episodes are pretty connected.
------------------ "I have come to the conclusion that one man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and that three on the law become a congress! And by God I have had this Congress!" --John Adams, "1776"
posted
We need to remember also that the use of "reset buttons" may be forced on the writers by the studio and/or networks. Often, especially in a syndicated series (as DS9 is and TNG was), the networks want every episode to stand alone, and to have each episodes' story resolved in that episode as much as possible. The reasons for this I'm not precisely clear on, aside from their probable desire to run reruns in any order that suits them.
I do know that in the past both Chris Carter on the X-Files and the producers of DS9 ran into resistance in doing arcs or leaving plot points unresolved. For example, the networks wouldn't have allowed DS9 writers to do an entire season as an arc, they had to be convinced (reluctantly) to do that first arc at the beginning of season 6.
------------------ "Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you." -Commander Riker, USS Enterprise
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