I don't think I can agree with that - plenty of Lower Decks episodes seemed reverse-engineered around whatever legacy actors they were able to book, and other legacy actors were just sort of...stuffed in there.

I would agree that they always crafted meaningful stories around that stuff, but that stuff is still pretty foundational - moreso than perhaps any show besides the third season of Picard, which I would enthusiastically hold up as an example of "fan service" (I don't love the term, but whatever, it fits) done very poorly.

You seem to be taking the fact that they rejected a pitch for a show that you think is a bad idea as evidence that they don't know what they're doing, which is...truly dizzying.

Edit: Holy autocorrect.