Series arcs v stand-alones

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

I prefer the majority of episodes to be different and stand alones.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Well, TOS, TNG, and VOY worked with having an episodic approach while DS9 and most current shows have those series long story arcs. Then again, the Trek fomula calls for the episodic approach, but ENT will be telling "how the Federation began"... so, I'll have to think about it. :lol:

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

Well, TOS, TNG, and VOY worked with having an episodic approach while DS9 and most current shows have those series long story arcs.  Then again, the Trek fomula calls for the episodic approach, but ENT will be telling "how the Federation began"...  so, I'll have to think about it. :lol:

I not saying that Enterprise should not have an episode arc, ut should it dominate the entire series as with DS9?

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Ah, well, then I vote "stand alone episodes", but would like to see an ongoing story arc concerning the Romulan War which leads to the founding of the Federation. :lol:

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

Ah, well, then I vote "stand alone episodes", but would like to see an ongoing story arc concerning the Romulan War which leads to the founding of the Federation. :lol:

My view exactly.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

OK, well, episodic plus 2 ongoing story arcs: TCW & Romulan War. Save the Federation's founding for the movies. :lol:

[TrekkieMage 0]

I nulled mine.

 

I can't make up my mind, I'd like to see there be a running arc and a point to the show, like the TCW and the Romulan War.

 

But I don't want the show to be just about that plot arc. I'd like to see some stand alone episodes. I don't want the Suliban in every episode. Some variety is nice. :lol:

[jdigs 0]

1 of the reasons I enjoyed TNG so much is because of larger series arc's..I liked seeing the characters go thru longer problems then having hem solved in one ep.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

1 of the reasons I enjoyed TNG so much is because of larger series arc's..I liked seeing the characters go thru longer problems then having hem solved in one ep.

Do you mean DS9 or TNG? TNG didn't really have anything beyond 2 or 3 episode arcs while DS9 had entire season arcs.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I'll be a little miffed if they drop the TCW prematurely as it has great potential!

[Goose 0]

Stardate:213499.9

 

 

I had to null. I think they should have a large story arc with scattered single episodes in between.

[Riaan 0]

Captain Jean-Luc Picard wrote:

Ah, well, then I vote "stand alone episodes", but would like to see an ongoing story arc concerning the Romulan War which leads to the founding of the Federation.

 

OK, well, episodic plus 2 ongoing story arcs: TCW & Romulan War. Save the Federation's founding for the movies.

 

TrekkieMage wrote:

But I don't want the show to be just about that plot arc. I'd like to see some stand alone episodes. I don't want the Suliban in every episode. Some variety is nice.

 

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and TrekkieMage, I agree with you.

 

I had to vote stand-alone episodes. Although I like a story arc, I don't want to see it dominate the series. The Dominion War on DS9 was a perfect example of that.

 

Saving the foundation of the Federation for the movies is not only an excellent idea, it fits the timeline better. If I'm not mistaken, the Federation is supposed to be founded in 2161. If Enterprise continues for it’s 7 seasons, it will conclude in the year 2158 or 2159, just a few years short of the foundation date. I would love to see the progress for the groundwork for the Federation -- How and EXACTLY why Earth, Andor, Vulcan,Tellar and Alpha Centari became allies, etc. Would prove interesting.

[cyphrx 0]

My vote is on story arcs. I remember watching every single episode of ds9 when they did the Dominion war and being utterly captivated by the on going story. It would kill me to have to wait an entire week for the next episode.

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

The think that I have against story arcs is that they make it harder for the casual/new viewer to turn on and understand a single episode, hence turning people off Trek. Star Trek was at it's strongest during TNG and\I think the format played a part.

 

Whats you views on this?

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I disagree, the other 2 shows I watch, Stargate SG-1 and Everwood have ongoing series-long story arcs, and both shows are big hits!

[TransporterMalfunction 1]

I disagree, the other 2 shows I watch, Stargate SG-1 and Everwood have ongoing series-long story arcs, and both shows are big hits!

Twin Peaks was also popular and had a cult following, however it would be unrealistic to believe that people tuning in halfway through the series would not be turned off by the series long plot.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Well, I guess it depends on the series premise. Sometimes you have shows like Everwood where every episode builds on a larger story, then you have shows like The Outer Limits where every episode is a self-contained story.

 

I guess what works best for Trek is being mostly episodic with a few series-long story arcs like Voyager trying to get home for example, however, I once read that they wanted to have a ballance between DS9's heavy story arcs and VOY's episodic approach.

[Stelfan 0]

I like longer arcs, but it should of course be mixed with both stand alone and longer arcs, I would love to see a long arc on the Romulan Wars

[cyphrx 0]

I disagree, the other 2 shows I watch, Stargate SG-1 and Everwood have ongoing series-long story arcs, and both shows are big hits!

Twin Peaks was also popular and had a cult following, however it would be unrealistic to believe that people tuning in halfway through the series would not be turned off by the series long plot.

I think you can find a balance with story arcs. They can be there but they don't have to be the entire focus of the show. For example, I really got into the tv show ER a year ago with out watching any of the previous seasons. There were some things happening that I had no idea about, but there were other things developing so it was enough for me to get in. (For example I didn't know about the deal with Abby's mom until later episodes, but some of the other angles kept me interested to stick around.) Granted I was told that the cast has been changed many times and that may equate to some of it's appeal to new viewers, but I think you can have arcs as long as the arc can act in the background some times while you develop other plot lines. To a certain extent they did this on Ds9 (IE: the war was still going on, but sometimes the characters had time to go on an escapade at Vic's.)

[xenexian 2]

I posted quite a time ago and I thought it's still revelant to this thread. It's just my opinion but isn't that what everything here on this board is suppossed to be anyway? When it comes to the subject of episodic vs story arc, I believe that what it comes down to is how well the story lines are written in either genre. I personally prefer the continuing storyarc rather than the episodic. DS9 was exceptional doing this and hardly destroyed the idea of how star trek is done at all. In fact, it made it much more watchable and enjoyable then any of the others. I find it far more satisfying to have a complex story that can take the entire season or more then one season for that matter, than just to deal with a weekly new adventure. When you have to involve yourself in the characters and their respective histories, the viewer feels as if they become part of the program as well and missing an "episode" of the story line is tantamount to skipping chapter 6 to go to chapter 8. Why would you want to do this? As the viewer becomes more wrapped up in the story and the characters, the viewer finds themselves scheduling a part of their weekly schedule to watch, "What happens next". This keeps viewers interested and coming back for more and brings in more viewers as word of mouth spreads as to what is happening. This is the formula that soap operas or daytime dramas have used since the days of radio and is a proven successful formula. If it works for Star Trek, I would hardly use the line of fixing something that isn't broke. DS9 broke the mold and didn't break the way Start Trek was done at all. It improved it and it worked. If one looks at the rage of what passes for television nowadays, the reality shows are ALL continuing storyarcs and have been very successful (i.e. Survivor, The Batchelor and Joe Millionaire just to name a few). One reason that was not given as to why Paramount would prefer episodes rather then continuing storys, is that it's easier to sell the shows in syndication when you can show any episode in any order and not have to worry about what the viewer may have missed in an chronologically earlier show. It keeps the casual viewer interested in watching re-runs if they don't have to commit to a daily schedule. As for the true blue trek fans, who will watch any Start Trek show at anytime, this is a moot point. But for the bean counters who watch the dollars of shows in syndication, this becomes a valuable point in keeping the show on the air somewhere and any time. For those, like the writer of the post that started this, perhaps the problem doesn't lie with the just the preference of episodic vs storyarc, but with the attention span of the viewer. A point that I have brought up in the past is that todays television viewers have shorter attention spans then the viewers of the past. A fact that rears it's head in other fields as well, not just viewing habits. The MTV generation of production is prevalent in just about everything on tv today and requiring a viewer to have to pay attention may be almost asking too much. Is a continuing storyarc better overall? You bet. Give me a reason to keep coming back week after week to find out what happens next draws on basic human curiousity, a very powerful trait and doesn't allow me to just watch a particular show because of some perceived loyalty to a franchise or actor, but to a very real feeling of a saga to follow. Because of all this, DS9 in it's entirety, as well as selcted episodes of Voyager and TNG that contained these elements, are the ones that seem to be remembered the best and at times, brings up the most debate. Sorry, but after all this, I'll take my continuing and evolving storyarc of DS9 over all others and as far as the stand alone episodes go, they're fun when you see them again but adds little to the whole idea of an expanding Federation and the feeling of "Time Marches On". I'll get off my soapbox now.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Perhaps tptb have achieved the best of both worlds with ENT, a couple of seasons of Stand Alone Episodes for selling to syndication and coming soon; 5 seasons of arc's (with no doubt, some S.A.E. thrown in to meet Syn requirements for # of episodes) which the sale of box-sets would (hopefully) be brisk, depending on the job they now do in bringing back fans to the show.

[Chataeya 0]

I LIKE THE STORY ARC BETTER.....THIS IS WHAT KEEPS ME COMING BACK

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

In the end, this is how I see it.

 

STAR TREK - When on a Starship.

Episodic approach as the crew go from one adventure to the next.

STAR TREK - When on a Space Station.

Things happen to a space station, recurring characters come into play, story arcs build, and so forth.

 

I say if it's on a ship, keep it episodic with background story arcs or just one "main" story arc that non-fans can keep up with. However, it it's on a planet or space station, then go all out with story arcs.

 

Anyone agree?

[Bakula Bird 0]

I would definitely prefer to see more series opt for standalones, mainly because i like to sit down and say 'ooh i'll watch the one where such and such happens' but in an arc it is harder to do that cos all the episodes follow into each other and you might need to watch 3 or 4 just to get the gist or re-aquaint yourself with the arc. Plus it is harder to introduce someone new to a series if a whole season is one big arc. I mean, i am not necessarily opposed to arcs, i like when there is a background arc that is always there but merely touched upon except for the odd special episode...

 

Bakula Bird

[nemesis59 0]

I liked series arc better than stand alone but I like both