response 48 of 49:

Feb 12 03:54 UTC 2018

resp:47
"Grex topic phoenix". That's a cool title, though I can't (yet) claim credit
for flaming a backtalk topic to death.

I apologize for the Star Trek fan terminology. There have been seven official
Star Trek television series to each of which fans have applied 
after-the-fact a three-letter abbreviation for convenience of reference.

1. TOS - "Star Trek" (1966-69) ("The Original Series"[*])
2. TAS - "Star Trek" (1973-74) ("The Animated Series"; a Saturday-
   morning children's cartoon)
3. TNG - "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-94)
4. DS9 - "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993-99)
5. VOY - "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001)
6. ENT - "Star Trek: Enterprise" (2001-05)
7. STD - "Star Trek: Discovery" (2017-present) (STD is also a common US 
   abbreviation for "Socially-Transmitted Disease")

STD is a current attempt to revive the franchise on television. I have 
seen no more of it than a few reviews on YouTube, but the attempt has 
attracted much fan controversy. I have heard that a recent episode 
featured a series-impacting plot twist that's the most ill-conceived fan 
service in the history of television.

"The Orville" is another science fiction television series that started 
broadcasts in the US in 2017. The series was created and stars Seth 
MacFarlane who is most famous for creating the animated series "Family 
Guy". I saw a few of the initial episodes which were briefly available 
on YouTube (they have since been deleted). MacFarlane is apparently a 
fan of Star Trek of the TNG generation, and The Orville does a lot of 
homage to many of the older series. It could be described as a clone of 
TNG with a comedic touch. Star Trek fans seem to like The Orville better 
than STD, though television critics feel the opposite. The responder 
felt the episodes viewed were not profound, but nostalgically 
entertaining.


[*] The abbreviation TOS is somewhat controversial among True Fans like 
    the responder, similar to the resentment True Star Wars Fans feel 
    toward the attaching of an episode number or subtitle to the One 
    True Movie Called "Star Wars".