Benjamin Olson
Hero
There was a problem with the new crew in the context of a "Picard" show. They were all Poochies in a show that refused to get to the fireworks factory.
But more seriously, the problem with the new characters is that they felt like interlopers in a TNG derived show. Next Gen was formated as a show that generally didn't really develop relationships with anyone who wasn't a series regular very far (there were a few recurring characters, but most times when you saw a new face you knew they'd be gone by the end of the episode, even sometimes when they purportedly worked and lived on the ship). Next Gen was also a show whose greatest strength was iconic main characters, some of whom nevertheless got less character development in 7 seasons and 4 movies than we would expect a character in a drama series to get in one season these days, because it was a status quo oriented show. It was also a show that had so many giant existential crises of the week that it's hard to believe Picard's days captaining the Enterprise were not the defining days of his life, and the Picard series certainly embraces the idea that they are.
So the problem with the new characters is that Jean-Luc Picard is a character deeply defined in our minds in ensemble with the other Next Gen characters. An iconic pater familias character doesn't feel right if you plop him in with a different familias. When a crisis presents itself we expect him to go running to his old friends, who we have been made to believe are the most superlatively hypercompetent group in Starfleet. If there is an engineering problem he should be calling up Geordi damn it! Trying to present him as someone who, very realistically, has different important relationships at different parts in his life doesn't quite jive with the fundamental format of the old series and its presentation of the characters, much less the movies which naturally always involved them reuniting even when it required improbable events. 7 seasons and 4 movies hammered in that these people were the best of the best, and were Picard's A team for every possible situation. It feels weird for him to go call up a B team, and doubly so when they give him attitude.
Also, given that Next Gen was a status quo show that didn't have a whole lot of dynamic character growth, and whose characters are beloved and iconic, we want to see them again and see them get a treatment in longform, character-driven, "2020s prestige television" style format. I liked the new characters well enough, but they felt like the people we were sidled with because we couldn't have the old characters.
But yes, your fundamental claim that it smacks of desperation is not groundless. Picard the series has been a bit of a disappointment. I, on the whole, have liked it, but I still found it a disappointment. It is now being soft rebooted (note that almost nothing in season 3 episode 1 requires viewing seasons 1 or 2 to understand) as a full TNG-revival limited series. I think the latter has a lot more potential. This is what they probably should have just made in the first place.
