Series: Starship Exeter
Total seasons (to date if current): 2 episodes only
Span: 2002 - 2014
Writer(s): Jimm and Joshua Johnson
Director: Jimm and Joshua Johnson
Things I liked: The whole “homage to TOS” thing going on
Things I didn’t like: The shots of the ship and space (very clunky) and the lack of a role for Commander Harris, whose scenes all entailed sitting in the captain’s chair showing her legs.
Timeline: 23rd century
Vessel: USS
Exeter
Class: Constitution
Location: Alpha Quadrant
Dramatis Personae: Captain John Garrowick, Lt. B’Fuselek, an Andorian, Cutty, Commander Jo Harris, D’Agosta
Starring: James Culhane (Jimm Johnson), Holly Guess, Michael Buford, Joshua Caleb (Joshua Johnson)
Comments
Two years after
Hidden Frontier launched, and this looks ten years ahead of them. At least. Retaining the look and feel of TOS, this is far more authentic. People walk around corridors, doors open and close, they even use those blocky monitors that TOS used (I guess they’re old computer monitors but they look well). Everything is far brighter compared to HF: there’s a real sense of space here whereas on the other series it was pretty obvious everything was taking place in a limited area. The other was also much darker; this is cheerful and well-lit. I’m already impressed, and the title credits haven’t even run yet.
Okay, and now they’re running, and it’s basically TOS, though they have changed the voiceover and the wording, probably at CBS’s insistence. They have however kept the original score. Interesting. I would say that on first viewing, the animation is poor. Where HF loses on live-action and acting and sets, it looks like it may kick SE into a gaseous nebula in terms of animation. The movement of the ship over the credits is jerky and glitchy. Let’s see where this goes. Proper communicators, tricorders, a decent transporter effect, and quite a clever little philosophy of life espoused by the Andorian crewmember, Mr. B’fuselek. Getting better. I see they stuck with the original costumes too, which means, um, very revealing skirts for the ladies. I wonder how that went down? Guess as long as they don’t go up… sorry.
Cleverly avoiding having to CGI “nine-foot lizards” by the expedient of mentionign them and then running away. Oh okay no there’s one now. Ah. A bad plastic toy I think, definitely not CGI. Looks very rubbery. Phaser effects are good though. Sound effects very true to the original, building structures faithful, and the Klingons, when they appear on the scene, conform to the type seen originally in TOS. Without question, animation aside, this is far better than Hidden Frontier, and far more enjoyable. The acting, too, is way superior, even if Captain Garrovick (why such an odd name I wonder?) more or less shrugs when one of his men is forced to do a good impersonation of a cinder. I know ENT used Andorians first, in a way TOS had not - in that series they had a best a minor role - so perhaps credit can’t really be given to SE for featuring them as the bad guys, but what they do, so far, they do very well indeed.
I would say however that the guy playing the main Klingon seems to think he’s in
Sons of Anarchy or something. He speaks way too fast for a Klingon, without the slow drawl and wicked growl the TOS ones had, and also without the slightly foreign tilt to the accent. He’s an American Klingon, and he’s not hiding it, which is unfortunate because he’s the first one who has not acted well. Ah look! In a real homage to Kirk, Garrowick also loses his shirt and exposes his manly chest. They also observe TYAT (Throw Yourself About Time), a mainstay of TOS, and even have a fist-fight between the captain and the Klingon, complete with ripped shirt. Sweet.
Yeah, overall I’d give this a big thumbs up. The animation is basic but to their credit they don’t rely on it at all, preferring instead to act the thing out kind of like a LARP (Live Action Role Play) and do very well with it. They succeed exceptionally well in maintaining the feel and mood of the original, even down to the little comedy bit right at the end, and the flash display of scenes over the end credits. The font is perfect too, though green rather than blue or yellow. The acting is, to be fair, first class, and I could see these guys acting in the real thing, had they been young enough. All in all, an excellent production.
Ratings
Script: 10/10
Acting: 9/10
CGI: 3/10
Mood: 9/10
Faithfulness: 10/10
Soundtrack/effects: 10/10
Costumes: 10/10
Probability of watching more: 10/10
Balance between animation and live-action: 2/10
Gender balance: 3/10