Star Trek

Alternatively, some of the best episodes of TNG were "bottle" episodes to fill space and keep costs down. If 90s trek had shorter seasons would we have had "Measure of a Man" ,"Duet", or "Masks" made?

I know the days of a 24 episode season are long gone due to the increase of production time in modern TV, but maybe we could have 13 to 15 episodes ? Enough for a 10 episode dedicated season arc with a few others just to explore some weird anomalies that make no sense at all.

Longer seasons would allow them to throw in a few SciFi oriented episodes that don't necessarily advance character arcs. Where would SNW be if TOS didn't have the "Arena" (Gorn) episode that was based on a completely unrelated SciFi short story?

Mirror, Mirror was a SciFi episode that not only gave us the foundation for Discovery, but cemented the evil-twin-goatee trope into pupular culture.

Space Seed (Botany Bay/Khan) was also a one-off SciFi episode. Where would the entire franchise be without it?

I really hope SNW makes room for exploring the sort of SciFi ideas that Star Trek was originally based on.

I've been rewatching TNG and it has become very, very apparent to me how much of the charm of the show was due to two things:

1. The sheer chemistry of the cast. Since really learning how much they all loved each other, it really just feels like a ship of joy.

2. The filler episodes let you spend time with the cast. I mean, you rarely get something like a whole scene about Data painting, or stroking a fake beard, or Geordi striking out with multiple women, or Troi extolling the virtues of chocolate sundaes.

I've been really impressed by how much SNW has been able to do with the ensemble, it really feels like the cast have relationships, so if we can get more of that, yes please!

I almost want to believe that they're cancelling Discovery to give more resources to SNW's production schedule. ;)

20 seems unrealistic given the longer shooting time per episode and actors’ wanting flexibility to be able to work on more than one project.

12-15 however seems very possible especially with the episodic format. Producing a longer season after the strike especially would seem wise. It would also allow Paramount to take a brief hiatus midseason (the way Discovery did originally) to stretch out the schedule.

SNW has already demonstrated that it is an ensemble show with a full cast that can basically carry or star in their own episodes. Not every main cast member needs to be on set every production day, and even the principal character, Pike, can step back in some episodes.

Next Generation was your favorite, and it had 24 episode seasons. Episode count and quality are not necessarily linked.

Hey, with more episodes we might have gotten a proper Ortegas episode...

The traditional American 20+ episode format is superior and I have no problems dying on this hill. It is the format that got almost everyone into Star Trek, and as such we are limiting ourselves with binge-junky 10 episode format.

Pay the writers, pay the actors, sign the contract order more episodes! ✊It’s a great show!

I see it as something exciting. There are countless incredible science fiction writers out there and a longer season could mean more opportunities for their stories to reach the screen.

Rewatching TNG recently, I’ve relished the longer seasons with loads of interesting stories. And with things being episodic, a weaker episode doesn’t ruin everything (unlike Discovery and Picard).

Michelle Hurd has been championing longer seasons of television for the sake of job security. We really just need to accept that 10 episode series are not there to "cut out the bad stuff" but to put the cast and crew in a worse position. Produce less content, if it "flops" then you've only spent so much and can cut everyone loose and recoup the loss elsewhere instead of investing jn the future.

I think more episodes of SNW would do the show a lot of good. Right now, the status quo (in my eyes, at least) is gimmick episodes. We're not getting nearly enough "normal" Trek. Season 2 specifically has mostly been gimmicks, crossovers, and bottle episodes. You really need to construct before you deconstruct, make a status quo before you break it. It would make these big episodes stand out more.

I'm not worried.

The reason SNW is better than DISCO and ENT is that the characters are real and complete. We know exactly what type of person Ortegas is, and seeing her do stuff is exciting because I'm invested in seeing her grow and change.

Compare that to Detmer from DISCO, I'm not sure what her job is, didn't know her name for serval seasons and couldn't tell you a thing about her personality. I don't care if Detmer lives, dies or grows. She's a person who exists in the background.

The hard work of establishing the characters is done. I will be happy to see them go stuff.

Honestly, I think SNW is in a pretty decent position for a larger episode order. Heck, having more episodes to create more space between TOS character guest appearances would probably do the series good.

My feeling watching SNW is that it isn't getting enough space to breath more and chew on its subject matter more. I'd bet the writers and show runners are voicing the same thing ... if they had more episodes they'd totally be able to fill them out with good stuff. In a way, organically growing from short episode counts into greater seasons might be a good way to go. Lots of comparisons to TNG etc here, and in those cases, maybe a shorter first season might have actually worked well.

I've talked to some folk who work in TV about just this.

The upshot is that knowing the length of run with enough time creates better episodes whether the run is short or long.

The problem is something getting big and an emergency demand for more episodes after a season has already been planned out. (or that episodes need to be cut for a reduced run).

As for the BBC, we are still very much waiting for the clock to run out on Casualty, Holby City, EastEnders, silent witness...

I'd also argue that even despite a shorter episode length, Sherlock still managed to overstay its welcome.

I don't understand this idea that fewer episodes is better. Basically my only complaint about SNW season 2 is how rushed it felt.

I would be very happy to see 15 episodes a year, I think their current cast is great. They've expanded the story of some of the characters in season 2, but I feel they could easily add a few more spotlight episodes a year.

While I understand your hesitation, I definitely believe there could have been at least five more relevant episodes in Season 2. This season was overall character driven instead of a "planet of the week" format we've seen before. So, there could have been some extra episodes that extrapolated on the seasonal Gorn arc, or an Ortegas episode, or a Pelia episode. There's a lot of potential to provide spanning character and seasonal arcs while delivering episodes from different planets over a 15 episode season.

I definitely believe 20 episodes is pushing it, but a 12-15 episode season could work if the stories are laid out well.

I know it's an incredibly unpopular opinion but my least favorite SNW show to date has been the musical, it was kitchy and waaaay too annoying to follow along with the story when they just kept singing all the time, it pleased the theater kids to no end, but I couldn't even make it through the episode, having said that, SNW is far and away the best Trek in the entire P+ batch yet, and I'm glad it's getting shown the love it deserves for being my sort of Trek. Looks like we got a runner, boys, long may she run.

I'm down for more episodes per season, granted they have a good crew. It means more work for screenwriters and a potential for some amazing episodes. Let's give it a shot!

I would enjoy having more episodes, and I (hopefully) don't think that enough people would approve anything that would compromise the quality, given how they clearly know what they're doing