Review of "Star Trek Picard"

[VIDEO] For the first time I've purchased a subscription to CBS All Access which streams a number of original programming in addition to a library of classic TV programming owned by CBS and Paramount. This enables me to watch episodes of the new Star Trek series about Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

Picard in this series is a retired starfleet admiral who finds himself trying to get back into the saddle. He mourns the death of a friend he served with as Captain of the USS Enterprise. If I had nostalgia for the adventures I often watched from Star Trek: The Next Generation on WPWR-TV 50 here in Chicago it came back. We only see a quick look at the USS Enterprise D in this series looking better than it had the last time we saw that ship in Star Trek: Generations where it was destroyed.

One disheartening thing about the first three episodes I watched over the weekend is that Picard is treated as a pariah. I'm sure there was a variety of disagreements that occurred that led to this development, however, a man of Picard's stature and legend shouldn't have been treated the way another starfleet admiral treated him as he sought to return to duty to the service he faithfully served.

This transmission from Junkball Media mentions at least the drama I mentioned. We get the good and bad and some of this I would agree. The melodrama between some of the characters on this show leaves us numb, however, I think this series has time to develop.

What has been established so far has me interested in what's next. The next episode drops tomorrow and hopefully it's a good one.

BTW, one thing noted concerns me although I wish I had read up on it more. Do the people who wrote and produced this program have any great knowledge of the United Federation of Planets and the Star Trek universe. Unless some research is down by the creative team behind this series I can only wonder if this series is doomed, especially for long time Star Trek fans like myself.

Finally, it's probably about time I catch up to Star Trek Discovery. I hadn't seen a full episode since the series premire actually aired on the CBS Network on a Sunday in Primetime in 2017.

The failed relaunch of ECW

[VIDEO] I missed this from last year. There was an episode of WWE Untold that explored the relauch of ECW as a brand with both RAW and SmackDown. It's akin to what's going on with NXT in the Wednesday nite wars against the emerging All Elite Wrestling.

ECW I only had three short years with the renegade promotion that was on the heels of both WCW and WWE (or WWF). The wrestling I saw was gritty and definitely didn't have the production values of both WCW or WWF. Somehow I admired that quality as the polished I expect from the other two companies.

What I do agree with as I continue to learn more about the impact of ECW is that they were the disruptors. If creatively WCW and WWF was in a rut, ECW was the guide out of it. And they had the fanbase to prove it as they were part of the episodes I saw on TV for those three short years. It will always be in my head how ECW fanatics would chant the three letters of their favorite promotions or pop huge for their favorite performers.

Another think that caught my attention with ECW is the violence. There was truly a form of anarchy in ECW although matches do end when a referee calls a submission or counts a pinfall. Beyond that the match could go all over the building and weapons could be used or even outside interference. The referees were said to wear costumes similar to the apparel of MMA referees. The action I saw as the WWF attitude era was in full swing was something different from the fare I would be treated to during the Monday nite wars.

Of course as happens, I came to the party late. When I discover ECW the ratings domination between WWF and WCW was beginning to turn. The NWO storyline was beginning to fizzle by 1999 and WWF as ascendant with the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon storyline. And by 2001 WCW would become a WWF property and also ECW was bankrupt.

Then by 2005 ECW would become a WWE property and while fans yearned for its return it was revived. Of course now that it was part of the establishment it became the one thing wrestling fans in the 1990s rebelled against. And that is the story you see in the video above.

I can see where the revival fell short of the original. I can also see that ECW as a third brand that aired on the former Sci-Fi (no SyFy) allowed some future WWE superstars to gain some exposure and get TV time.

If the ECW revival hadn't gotten the attention of advertisers and networks prompting the involvement of Vince McMahon, fans can only wonder the direction of the ECW revival with the leadership of yet another McMahon, Shane McMahon.  Oh man another thought just hit me.

What if WWE had been able to properly relaunch the aforementioned WCW as another brand? Ah well for both we'll never know!.

Matt Hardy gets his YouTube award

[VIDEO] I'm sorry to have missed this Tuesday. WWE superstar Matt Hardy's YouTube channel finally got their silver award from the largest most important video site in the world. Although currently the subscriber count is at 261K, you're eligible to receive the silver plaque you see Hardy holding once you arrive at 100K subscribers.

Also at 1 million subscribers you get a larger gold plaque and at 10 million you get a diamond play button. There are other awards for becoming a YouTube channel with a large subscriber base as PewDiePie at 103 million subscribers has arrived at, but I won't mention that. It has to essentially be a stratospheric rise.

Congrats Marr Hardy, I hope that you will either return to the ring (and not to put someone over) or otherwise you find another role in wrestling. Hopefully you will continue to put out content on your channel. I've watched some of it and was greatly entertained.