I can see how you might feel that way. I like plot arcs, but when they take it too far it can get VERY annoying. I particularly hated the "Let's ferret out the Maquis traiter by having Paris pretend to revert to jerk mode" arc way back in Season Two. Hated hated hated. A scene here, a scene there. Maybe it was okay when you're watching them in order on TV, but I have sporadic episodes on tape, and I almost always have to fast-forward through those scenes because they just don't matter. The entire plot could've easily fit into about four episodes.
On the other hand, NextGen was much too compartmentalized. Putting aside the two-part eps and the rare separated couplets (the Worf/K'heylar arc, the Worf's disgrace arc, the Worf/Troi arc, are we seeing a pattern here?
), you could see the eps in almost any order and not get bogged down with details. At most you'd only have to "previously on Star Trek" about two eps worth. Voyager had to recap entire SEASONS.
How about a Lower Decks series? Think about it, the central characters would be the junior officers. The senior staff would be strictly in the background. We could have more long-term relationships a la Paris/Torres because a Science ensign and a Command ensign would never directly report to each other. It'd open up some interesting plots. Think about all of the episodes where the Captain gave mysterious orders that no one but the senior staff ever knew the particulars of. What would the junior officers think was happening? What do your ordinary Federation guys do on their vacations? You'd expect the junior officers to actually take their leave. We could even see transfers between ships of the same class if we wanted (or needed to change the senior staff actors).
Here's a backup question: How would technology advance if we pushed things into the 25th century? Of course we'd have those five-bar commbadges, but what else? I'd love to see transporter wristwatches. I mean, put a transporter satellite in orbit. You'd input the coordinates for home, the office, your best friend across the planet, the space station, etc. and just hit a button to trigger a remote transport.
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mudshark: Nate's just being...Nate.
Zeke: It comes
nateurally to him.
mudshark: I don't expect Nate to make sense, really -- it's just a bad idea.
Sa'ar Chasm on the 5M.net forum: Sit back, relax, and revel in the insanity.
Adam Savage: I reject your reality and substitute my own!
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Crow T. Robot: Oh, stop pretending there's a plot. Don't cheapen yourself further.