Category Archives: TV News

Picard is Back!

I never understood why there was always a divide between Star Wars and Star Trek. You have to dig to find any comparison. That being said Star Trek is better. Star Trek is about discovery and politics, battles of the mind, and no not the force. Each Star Trek series has given us a very different politically charged captain that has been shaped by their past but will endeavor to uphold the prime directive as necessary. Unlike Captain Kirk, who would instead speak with his fists, Captain Picard is the intellectual of all the captains. This is seen in the very first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard must win with his intellect to persuade the omnipotent being Q to leave mankind alone. There were no fists raised, nor would a fight of brawn have led to a victor. Picard is not without fault because he can be arrogant in his ideas over others, but this only humanizes him. Star Trek: The Next Generation was a risk when it was released, one that paid off in thanks to the talented Sir Patrick Stewart. Without him the show may have failed, a fact easily forgotten as the Star Trek brand was never really that big at the time, which is why it was off the air after only three short years.

I think it is safe to say that Captain Picard is the reason Star Trek has the extraordinary fanbase it has today. Captain Picard was the necessary baton from Captain Kirk needed to shepherd the franchise in a new direction. And now we are lucky enough to see Captain Picard shepherd us again into the newest generation of Star Trek. That’s right, Patrick Stewart came on stage at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas to reveal that Picard is coming back in a new show. There are no more details than that at this point. What will an old Picard be like? Well, I’m excited to see. I expect we will see a ton of cameos from throughout Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and dare I say, Captain Kirk. Also, just because Sir Patrick Stewart is older, doesn’t make him any less a great actor, he was one of the best-supporting roles in Logan last year.

Check out this YouTube video from Pogo. It’s the best mashup of Captain Picard’s vocals.

Make it so, Captain Picard,

Robert Ring

The Cranes? Frasier Reboot

At least that’s the title I imagine when I hear that Kelsey Grammer is working on a Frasier reboot. Frasier is one of the finest sitcoms ever made. I think The Big Bang Theory is a poor man’s Frasier swapping fine living and opera for geekdom. The writing for Frasier was consistently great and the show received a slew of accolades for it. A continuation of Frasier in a new setting with a new cast is how I can see them pulling this off. That’s exactly what they did with Frasier Crane’s character from Cheers in the Boston setting to Frasier in Seattle. Then we could get characters from Frasier sprinkled in every now and again, like they did with the Cheers stars guest appearances in Frasier. Though I would hope to see Niles appear a number of times.

The more I think on the reboot the more profound I think the show could potentially be. Frasier could have become more balanced in later life to the way his father lived. At this point, he may even be an author of psychiatry or a teacher rather than a radio host. I for one hope this show gets a green-light and can rival its predecessor.

Frasier 2

Let me know in the comments if you think Frasier should be rebooted.

Frasier Crane, I’ll be listening,

Robert Ring