From: alumn125@whscdp.whs.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.misc,rec.arts.drwho
Subject: Re: ST:TNG (critiques) vs Dr. Who
Date: 14 Dec 92 13:27:38 CST
Organization: Washington HS, Milwaukee, WI

> 
> In <9212101436.AA23959@rutgers.edu> MMURRAY@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU (Murray) writes:
>>Dr. Who is an excellent example of the importance of good, solid,
>>strong writing.  The show has (had?) a 25 year (on and off) life span-
>>but the special effects were not the best, even during Sylvester
>>McCoy's tenure when they improved, they were still low-budget.

Just a thought, Doctor Who has currently ran for 27 seasons, although
each new season did not follow in the next year. 1985-1986, for example
had 18 months with no new Who. The series has now been off the air
since 1989, but continues in paperback books.

> 
> I agree, if I read you correctly.  Doctor Who is an example of great writing
> transcending low production values (although it should be pointed out that DW
> also had its share of great actors, especially throughout the Tom Baker era).
> Once the quality of the writing plummeted (in the Colin Baker and Sylvester
> McCoy eras, both of which are almost uniformly *awful*), the series sputtered
> and was cancelled.<Note: Doctor Who has not offically been cancelled. See
below>
>  (One wonders if the BBC - long an opponent of its own
> show, for some perplexing reason - finally realized what was keeping DW afloat
> and fired all the good writers or something.)
> 
> Star Trek: The Next Generation, on the other hand, is an example of high
> production values failing to compensate for mediocre-to-awful writing.  The
> result is a mediocre series.

I agree. Star Trek: TNG does not hold my interest. I watched the show 
steadily for the first couple seasons, but then got bored. One of the
basic ideas of Doctor Who is that none of the story ideas are necessarily
new, but the way they are treated is the key. That is what makes the 
show interesting, even if the show you're watching is the fourth
alien invasion this season. Star Trek: TNG hasn't seemed to have made
that level. I no longer watch the show regularly but often hear how
this week's episode is just like one from the first season or whatever.
 
> 
>>As far as comparing ST:TNG with Dr. Who, this should be the only
>>subject discussed for improving the former; Dr. Who does have its
>>shining examples of bad acting (but usually not any of the regulars,
>>at least not the Doctor himself) and the format should not be
>>transferred to ST:TNG, but perhaps the continuity could be better.
> 
> There have been discussions from time-to-time on rec.arts.startrek that Star
> Trek has really taken the "complete story in 45-50 minutes" approach as far as
> it can, and it needs to loosen up some.  The popular view is that it should
> move toward "story arcs" taking up a number of episodes apiece, and perhaps
> flowing into each other.

This might help. Doctor Who has not yet been cancelled but is on 'rest
until it can be brought back fresh for the '90's' and there has been 
talk that new episodes would be hour long. They tried this once, and
I personally didn't care for it. According to polls, not too many other
people cared for it either. Perhaps Star Trek: TNG would work better
in a half hour format, like Doctor Who, where each story would be 4 
episodes or so. It couldn't hurt any....

> 
> I think that Doctor Who's format would suit Star Trek very well.
> 
> 
>>No matter what the look of the alien or the quality of the acting,
>>it's the writing that has made Dr. Who such a survivor.
> 
> Precisely.

Exactly, I thought the writing on the last few seasons of Doctor Who was
improving over the Colin Baker stories, and the effects were great 
improvements over any other seasons. So, in my opinion, things
were just looking up when they pulled the plug. They say that the 
earliest the Doctor could return is 1995. That's too long. Hopefully,
it will come back and even better than before. The Doctor deserves
as much.
> 

-The Doctor 

 "What's the sense of being grown up, if you can't act childish?" (Or words
to that effect)

           -The Doctor  -Robot-