I guess I feel like that particular trope is not evidence of a lack of creativity. It’s just one of those standards I’ve come to expect from sci-fi TV in general going back decades. It’s like how almost every sci-fi series seems to have to have an episode where everyone switches bodies.
And honestly, I can’t think of any Star Trek show which didn’t have at least one ‘AI goes crazy’ episode, especially if you stretch ‘AI’ to mean ‘holodeck creation that has human intelligence,’ which I would.
Funny you mentioned body switching. I was tempted to do a venn diagram where SNW and Prodigy both had “Freaky Friday” episodes. Too much work to fill out the rest of the chart.
Also, I’m reading the IMDB page on The Ultimate Computer and it looks like the LD episode was intentional with that trope:
The Stars at Night (2022) pays homage to this episode with the plot theme of crewless starships controlled by artificial intelligence, going haywire and firing on friendly forces. Also, images of Admiral Buenamigo’s control console for his Texas-class starships bear a strong resemblance to the M-5’s control console.
That, I understand. Most of what they do is in honor of what came before. Having Shelby, of all people, sign off on the fleet formation is entirely uncharacteristic.
I guess I feel like that particular trope is not evidence of a lack of creativity. It’s just one of those standards I’ve come to expect from sci-fi TV in general going back decades. It’s like how almost every sci-fi series seems to have to have an episode where everyone switches bodies.
And honestly, I can’t think of any Star Trek show which didn’t have at least one ‘AI goes crazy’ episode, especially if you stretch ‘AI’ to mean ‘holodeck creation that has human intelligence,’ which I would.
Funny you mentioned body switching. I was tempted to do a venn diagram where SNW and Prodigy both had “Freaky Friday” episodes. Too much work to fill out the rest of the chart.
Also, I’m reading the IMDB page on The Ultimate Computer and it looks like the LD episode was intentional with that trope:
That, I understand. Most of what they do is in honor of what came before. Having Shelby, of all people, sign off on the fleet formation is entirely uncharacteristic.
There are very few sci-fi shows that don’t do the Freaky Friday thing at least once if they’re on the air long enough.