Star Trek returns with streaming series

[dragonflies]

The title is "Star Trek: Discovery"

 

http://tvline.com/2016/07/23/star-trek-cbs-discovery-title-all-access/

 

 

[dragonflies]

Pushed back to May 2017

 

[YRBB]

Jesus, @dragonflies, this just broke! LMAO!   I had my URL link title and everything and all for nothing!

[dragonflies]

LOL not my fault it popped up on my Facebooke timeline

[Vee]

They needed the extra time - the original timetable was kind of insane.

[Chris B]

The timeline thing doesn't work for me. I agree January might have been too ambitious, but CBS/Paramount did a horrific job handling Star Trek's 50th anniversary. Horrible. First the movie wasted any opportunity to use it for promotion. It's almost as if they forgot, then they announced this series, but clearly have allowed it to sit in the backburner which is why it's being delayed now. Unlike most streamed shows, this is going to be released one episode a week, so they could've potentially made the deadline since they don't need to present an entire season up front. At the very least, with all these conventions and Comic Con, they should've been using that to at least announce casting or a detailed synopsis or something for the series. Not to mention the official 50th anniversary with all that free press there was NOTHING. Throw in the writers saying to lower our expectations, the fact that it's another prequel and now the delay, I'm not getting excited again until they prove to me it's worth waiting for.

[Vee]

The creative team - Fuller, Nicholas Meyer, and some great staff writers - is more than enough for me. The setting doesn't upset me. It's  not too old.

[Chris B]

My problem with the setting is that the last two Star Trek projects (the movie reboots and last series, Enterprise) were also prequels. The series is about going "where no man has gone before" so why do they keep shying away from advancing the storyline? Hell, just look at how jumping 100 years with Next Generation completely revitalized the franchise. Also by doing a prequel set so close to the original, now you have all sorts of continuity issues to worry about in terms of alien races never seen again, the various look of the Klingon's, the fact that you can't use Romulans and then the fact that due to technology there is no way it'll even remotely look in sync with TOS. I was just ready for something truly fresh and new.

[Vee]

The reason they didn't go beyond Voyager is because they felt that entire area of the timeline had become overpopulated, overexhausted and overly dependent on magical technology steeped in impenetrable and pointless babble, which I can understand - that was part of why Voyager, Enterprise, etc. are so poorly viewed today. By the end of Voyager the Federation (courtesy of Captain Janeway and her crew) has a great deal of tech that is basically magic and takes a lot of potential drama out of the room.

 

While I personally would've jumped ahead another 80-100 years and given it a go, the fact is the TV shows have spent most of the last 30 years in that era and were ultimately made tired by it. I have no problem with their exploring the relatively fresh time period of "The Cage", which I always have been fascinated by. I might be slightly less intrigued if there wasn't such an incredible creative team involved.

[alwaysAMC]

They could easily advance the storyline and focus on character-driven storylines and interspecies drama within the Alpha and Gamma quadrants.... another DS9, but smarter now that we have wonderful TV shows to emulate like BSG. 

[Chris B]

Lost In Space airs in 2018 and they've already announced three cast members, not to mention it was announced well after STD. Another reason I feel iffy about this time change. Something about it feels a little off considering what a major property this is and the fact that nothing is going according to plan.

I agree, not to mention the different types of shows you could do. I hope this is just one of many shows if it's successful. I could see one set at Starfleet Academy, or perhaps one set in the future, but not too far where you could still utilize Voyager and TNG characters, but in a different capacity. There are so many places you can go other than the traditional format or a space station like DS9. 

Edited September 20, 2016 by Chris B

[Vee]

I mean, CBS put this thing together very quickly trying to make their (stupid) streaming service launch date. The creative team was brought on very quickly and had to acclimate. I think it makes perfect sense they'd want more time to get it right, which is what they asked CBS for and were given. My understanding is they intend to cast roles this month or in October. The people involved are not exactly some fly-by-night group.

 

I just don't find another VOY/TNG-style show or one at the Academy interesting - for me it would have to be set at least a hundred years forward or slightly less to get away from all of that. I think Voyager was mostly a mess with some gold amidst all the chaff and Enterprise was worse. I think Rick Berman and co. pretty much neutered and drove the franchise (with the exception of DS9) into the ground in the last six or seven years before Enterprise went off the air. Everything looked, felt, talked, acted, sounded the same - the music was even deliberately changed to be more muzak. That bland machine product Berman churned out is why Trek has been off TV for years. IMO they can't get far enough away from the Berman zone and if that means going to an uncharted past time period I'm for it - I also loved the aesthetic and tone of the original pilot.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Vee

[Chris B]

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I love Voyager. I don't think they did enough with the exciting premise, but that's more a sign of the times. If it never existed and were made today I think it would be an excellent show. I became a Trek fan with that series mainly due to my love of Mary Ryan. I think a big reason I'm so against a prequel is how painfully bad Enterprise was. A Star Trek prequel excites me, but Enterprise and the movies have made me afraid to even think of that. I do agree with you though about The Cage. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that pilot, but in 2017 can you recreate that? I know Rogue One has pretty successfully sat itself in the same time period, look and feel as Star Wars, but I just keep getting the feeling we'll get some 60s inspired costumes, but mostly a modern typical show. I feel like unless you take the limitations of TOS into consideration, it's no point in doing a prequel. 

[dragonflies]

I must be the only person who liked Enterprise lol

[Vee]

I think it's fine to update the tech for what Roddenberry would've done had he had the technology in the 1960s. I know everyone involved with that show is either a purist or very respectful of the historical legacy, so I don't think Fuller, Meyer, guys like Joe Menosky who mentored Fuller on the old shows, etc. are going to move totally away from the aesthetic. At the same time, Trek needs to be bold and not slavish to every bit of minutiae. It hasn't been bold in a long time - except the reboot movies, which are a mixed bag at best.

 

I think Voyager has some good episodes (many of which were written by Fuller, Menosky, etc.!) and a few great actors in search of a much better show. I do think Enterprise (and to a lesser extent, the new films but those aren't nearly as unpopular outside the hardcore audience) made a prequel series toxic for a long time, but I suspect this show could not be any further removed from that vibe or style. Nobody from it is involved, AFAIK.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Vee