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Colm Meaney Isn't Sure Star Trek Needs an Old Man Miles O'Brien (gizmodo.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/startrek@startrek.website
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Don't count on the Deep Space Nine star angling for a Star Trek: O'Brien any time soon.

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[–] 68 points 2 years ago (12 children)

EHhhh, I love O'Brien, but lately I think Trek has been relying way too much on nostalgia. I'd rather have new characters instead.

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Same. Although it's kind of a tradition to have the old actors on, and it can be fun, but it's better when used to contrast how the new Treck is different / evolving

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  • [–] 26 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    This right here. I liked how TNG did it. Series premier bring an oldster in to launch, maybe have a special episode or two with another.

    If we really wanted Colm back, have it in the premier of Starfleet Academy where the new cadets are going through a hall of distinguished professors and have an elderly O'Brien do a cameo with a sample of one of his lectures. Nice to connect the show to lore and nostalgia but short enough to let the new cast stand on their own.

    That said, I agree with Colm. Let O'Brien stay as he is. He had a perfect send-off.

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  • [–] 15 points 2 years ago

    Rather than a Starfleet lecturer I'd prefer if he was the author of a "Things they don't teach you at the Academy" type book.

    Something like "Per Starfleet regulations dilithium crystals should be set to a quarter inch technobabble. However in a pinch you can technobabble but be warned this can cause more babbling"

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

    I see this argument a lot, but outside of PIC S3 and the NuTrek reboots (I would still argue those were not relying on nostalgia but I understand the argument in favor) which post-Enterprise Star Trek "relies" on nostalgia?

    The most frequent criticisms I've seen of Discovery and Picard S1&2 are that they weren't similar enough to previous Star Treks. Lower Decks references the older shows a lot but is obviously not trying to imitate them. SNW is the closest I think you could get to a "relying on nostalgia" series and it is more frequently described as feeling "fresh" and seems to be the most well-received.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    It's more about the trajectory of nuTrek than the whole of it. Discovery and the first two seasons of Picard did try to do new things and move the franchise in new directions, but now Discovery is cancelled in favour of SNW and Picard season 3 discarded so much the first two seasons had done in order to dive into nostalgia hard - and its success led to a lot of speculation about a "Star Trek Legacy" series that would double down on the fanservice approach even further. So it does feel like there's a trend towards "safer" nostalgic content.

    And sometimes even fairly minor things just rub me the wrong way, like the Daniels reveal in Discovery. They just feel so arbitrary, and make the universe feel so mush smaller for no purpose.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I specifically asked for examples of shows outside of Picard Season 3 that "rely" on nostalgia. And "Star Trek Legacy" is not even a real show!

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Picard is super relevant, though. If we're talking about an alternate reality where Picard S3 never happened, then yeah, I'd agree that complaints about nostalgia are a little over blown. I don't see why that would be a discussion worth having, though. Picard did happen, and so did a whole lot of discussion about a possible Legacy show, and if you're wondering why you hear complaints about nostalgia, that's a big part of why.

    That's not the entirety of it, though. Outside of Picard, I'll say that Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks absolutely trade heavily in nostalgia. I can't agree with your view that either don't count. Having a fresh style doesn't change the fact that SNW is set on the classic Enterprise and is continuing to introduce more and more classic Trek characters. And Lower Decks built a whole episode around the reuse of a specific cave set from TNG, of all things. A huge amount of its humour and appeal is definitely based in nostalgia.

    I will say that it looks like Starfleet Academy on a good course to do it's own thing, Picardo notwithstanding, so I'm not saying the franchise has gone completely bankrupt or anything. I just think there's enough nostalgia going around that it's pretty valid to feel a little put off by it if one is so inclined.

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    • [–] 32 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    Meaney had always struck me as the ultimate working actor, fairly ambivalent about Star Trek beyond it being a job (which is fine).

    It's hard to imagine him turning down an offer, were it too come in.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

    He’s also still getting tons of regular work outside sci-fi. He’s got a comedy with Paul Reiser coming out later this year that looks pretty funny, too.

    https://youtu.be/lVSBJsxWtUo

    He doesn’t need to go back to Trek, and I’m glad for that.

    Regarding Kate Mulgrew, Prodigy made a lot of sense for her given her talents as a voice actor. (RIP Infinity Train)

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  • [–] [S] 9 points 2 years ago

    Yeah, I've read similar that it was "just a job" from his view, but you're right: if he's offered a role and is available, he'd probably take it.

    Even if he just pops up for a cameo as an Emergency Engineering Hologram or something. Maybe in Academy they find a 900 year old pattern buffer floating in deep space, and O'Brien pops out like Scotty in Relics. I would not be picky about how they bring him in, I guess, is what I'm saying. lol

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    • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    If anyone earned their retirement, it's Miles O'Brien. Maybe he could show up for one scene, where he lets the rest of the team know that, just like Wolverine did in First Class.

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  • [–] [S] 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

    Lol, I'd accept that. Maybe he's the template for future engineering holograms.

    Computer, activate the Emergency Engineering Hologram.

    Holo'brien: Jaysus! Your warp core's knackered. Nothing I can do. Deactivate emergency engineering hologram.

    (I don't think any incarnation of O'Brien would give up so easily; just playing off of your Wolverine clip lol)

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    But he is the canonically most important person in starfleet history!

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I like to think that, whatever it is that earns O’Brien that distinction, it had already happened by the end of DS9. Probably some technical wizardry he came up with while hacking together Cardassian and Federation technology. Just something he did to get the job done, but that would be fully appreciated as a genius piece of work with huge applicability sometime well after his death.

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    • [–] 19 points 2 years ago

    O’Brien is my favorite character in all of Trek. And as much as part of me would like to see him again, sometimes a character’s story is over and that’s ok!

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    [–] 15 points 2 years ago (11 children)

    Please just let the past stay in the past. Make new things! Come up with original ideas!

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  • [–] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (10 children)

    No shit.

    I’m so tired of every project being built on nostalgia.

    Strange New Worlds is so close to what I want from new Trek. I want that show, but on a new ship and a new crew set post-DS9.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (9 children)

    I want that show, but on a new ship and a new crew set post-DS9.

    This is what Picard S1&2 were but everyone vocally hated it. Good writing has nothing to do with setting.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago* (8 children)

    No it wasn’t. It was another show built on nostalgia, which I specifically mentioned being tired of.

    I did enjoy season 3 though.

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  • [–] -1 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Have fun arguing with yourself lmoa

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    You’re working really hard to misunderstand me.

    People are allowed opinions, dude.

    Here’s a tip if you actually want to have a discussion: ask why people feel the way they do about something instead of telling them they’re wrong for it.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    So what you want is Star Trek that...had nothing to do with Star Trek, because literally anything using the title, concept, or characters will be, by definition, "built on nostalgia." Got it.

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    • [–] 11 points 2 years ago* (2 children)

    I could see something with some sort of 25th century plot with O'Brien and Bashir being enjoyable. The O'Briens would be empty-nesters by then, with Miles in a late life crisis right when a shady-as-heck Bashir draws him into some vague top secret mission.

    Still, if anyone wants to see some more O'Brien suffering, there's always the IDW stuff. Honestly, probably half of why I kept reading was the morally gray man Harry Kim grew up to be. 😁

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    • [–] 10 points 2 years ago

    If it's written by any of the people who wrote Picard, forget it and let the man rest in peace.

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    [–] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    😢

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    • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    If they do another generation leap they should just copy Scotty's TNG appearance with O'Brien, shot for shot.

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    [–] 6 points 2 years ago*

    Parody of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster which reads "Keep Colm and Carry On. At the top is an illustration of Colm Meaney looking stubborn. The image is watermarked RobVincent.net, for that is my site and I made this thing.

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    [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    star trek needs star trek: legacy with seven of nine and others

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    [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    I feel like Dennis the buffer buff from the Lower Decks S3 Premiere was intended to be O’Brien, (Transporter enthusiast, war veteran) but for whatever reason it didn’t pan out…

    … which I honestly felt worked out for the best. Dennis was like my grandpa.

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