I don't think I can agree with that - plenty of Lower Decks episodes seemed reverse-engineered around whatever legacy actors they were able to book, and other legacy actors were just sort of...stuffed in there.

I would agree that they always crafted meaningful stories around that stuff, but that stuff is still pretty foundational - moreso than perhaps any show besides the third season of Picard, which I would enthusiastically hold up as an example of "fan service" (I don't love the term, but whatever, it fits) done very poorly.

You seem to be taking the fact that they rejected a pitch for a show that you think is a bad idea as evidence that they don't know what they're doing, which is...truly dizzying.

Edit: Holy autocorrect.

Very clever.

I see what you did there.

I'm not saying I don't want more Star Trek, but I have no issues with watching all of the older series (yes, even Enterprise) over and over, until something that deserves the title comes along and actually understands what the show was really about.

The actors are pretty damned good, but I'd rather them use the budget from the fancy sfx and make more episodes based on deeper stories.

Hollow, is the word.