Paramount+ Star Trek: Discovery - Official Thread (3 Viewers)

[Josh Steinberg]

Is this still a CBS streaming exclusive? Any prospect of Netflix, Cable, or other distribution?

It's a CBS streaming exclusive in the US, and will be on Netflix internationally.

I wouldn't bet against an eventual Blu-ray release but I wouldn't be surprised if it was kept as a steaming exclusive for an extended period. I think CBS will try to use it to drive subscription sales.

 

[Carabimero]

I don't really care about the ship or timeframe. My question is: how good will the writing be, week in and week out? If the writing is good, all will be well.

 

[Kristoffera]

I also hope it is post TNG. I want my TNG tech damnit!

 

[David Weicker]

I think it will take place post-TNG. But the crew spend the entire time on the holodeck in a pre-TOS ship.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Star Trek Discovery’: Series Reboot To Have Female Lead As Casting Heats Up

 

[Brandon Conway]

They start shooting in a month so casting news should be dropping real quick over the next few weeks.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Heheh - as you predicted Brandon, updates are coming quick!

Bryan Fuller Unloads Details About Upcoming ‘Star Trek Discovery’ Series – TCA

Lot of interesting items - here are the main new ones:

–Production starts in two months. “It’s set 10 years before Kirk, and will bridge the gap between Enterprise and the original series,” revealed Fuller. “We’re most closer to Kirk’s mission and get to play with that iconography.”

—Lead female character isn’t a captain, but “lieutenant commander with caveats,” says Fuller. “We haven’t cast her yet and we don’t know what level of diversity, she will be. The story that’s fascinating for me is that we’ve seen six series from captain’s point of view and to see one from another point of view gives us a richer context,” explained Fuller. She’ll be a sensitive hero.

–Overall, there about seven lead characters. Opening scene isn’t on a planet or Earth. One of the alien characters is named Saru.

–Fuller loves the character of Spock’s mother, Amanda Grayson, played by Winona Ryder in the J.J. Abrams 2009 movie. As far as her inclusion in season one, “possibly” said Fuller as the show’s timeline occurs around the same time as Grayson’s. In no way will the show be strictly about Grayson, rather an original member of Star Fleet.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Nice. Sounds like they're doing an approach similar to the TNG episode "Lower Decks" which follows those not in command.

I like that they've explicitly stated the timeframe now. It'll be interesting to see if they specifically state if its in the Prime of Kelvin universe, as "ten years before Kirk" means a different timeframe in each, as the Kelvin Kirk took command in 2258, while Prime Kirk took command in 2265. It's worth noting that they can't fudge this and not state which universe it's in as in the Kelvin timeline Nero arrived in 2233. So this series is either in 2255 (Prime) or 2248 (Kelvin).

EDIT: Or do they mean 10 years before Kirk's birth (2223)? Then they can fudge with revealing the timeline explicitly as they are pre-Nero.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

My understanding is CBS owns the TV rights and Paramount the movie rights so the series would have to take place in the original timeline.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I thought that they had already stated its in the prime universe?

I personally am underwhelmed by the confirmation that's it's a prequel. Being a prequel gives away too many storytelling options, since there are certain things that just can't happen given what we know about the future in this universe. I would have strongly preferred a show that took place after the events of Star Trek Nemesis (and Star Trek '09's brief view of the prime universe) so that everything was new and fresh and didn't have to fit between someone else's beginning and ending.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It sounds like Fuller had a specific event from the backstory of the original series that he wanted to use as the framework for the first season, and that event dictated the time period.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It sounds like Fuller had a specific event from the backstory of the original series that he wanted to use as the framework for the first season, and that event dictated the time period.

More and more, I'm convinced the reason CBS/Paramount sued Axanar had nothing to do with Star Trek Beyond and more to do with it being too close to what they had planned for this show. (This comment is not meant to be in support of Axanar, but thought it was an interesting coincidence.)

I'm certainly willing to admit that I could be wrong about this. But I'm tired of prequels and backstory and behind the scenes and alternate versions and old events from a new point of view. I want a new Star Trek story. Not one that just reimagines or enchantes what's already come before (I have the new movies for that). I want a new story, where anything can happen. And while I'm all in favor of a diverse crew, I would prefer the focus to remain on a leader and not a subordinate officer. Lower Decks was a fantastic TNG episode, but boy would I feel shortchanged if it had been seven years of Lower Decks instead of Pikard and Riker.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I agree Josh on the continuity corner the series is stuck in. Mentioned it before but I really dug the idea of a new series taking place in the Andromeda Galaxy.

As for switching the dynamics of the show to focus on a Lieutenant Commander instead of the senior officers, I'll remain open to it. Could be refreshing but as always it depends on execution. If anyone can pull off such a dynamic, Bryan Fuller has certainly earned my trust.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I agree Josh on the continuity corner the series is stuck in. Mentioned it before but I really dug the idea of a new series taking place in the Andromeda Galaxy.

One of the things that's always rankled me about "Voyager" is that it had probably the best premise of any of the Star Trek series, and didn't make the most of it with the stories it told.

As for switching the dynamics of the show to focus on a Lieutenant Commander instead of the senior officers, I'll remain open to it. Could be refreshing but as always it depends on execution. If anyone can pull off such a dynamic, Bryan Fuller has certainly earned my trust.

My guess is that the U.S.S. Discovery has some sort of special mission, and the lt. commander is in charge of that mission.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Every period of Star Trek can have fascinating stories told. Just because it takes place pre-Kirk doesn't mean there aren't hundreds of solid stories they could tell. Enterprise was hamstrung by being a prequel because it was on the same type of mission that TOS was 100 years later. But this doesn't have to be that type of show.

This is going to be an anthology, right? As it's just one season with these characters for one main macro story I don't see how that would infringe too much on TOS. And even if the anthology thing isn't true and we get several seasons out of these group of characters, well, it's a big galaxy out there. TNG, DS9 and VOY are all the same time period and for the most part they each had their own spin on the concept of Star Trek.

Re: a diverse cast. It's great, and it's what Star Trek is all about. I hope they also look to be diverse in another forgotten way: age. Everyone in Star Trek on the ships are fairly young (20s-50s). I'd like to see a character who is 60-70 or even older that decided to change their life by joining Starfleet in "retirement". We've never really seen an older, non-Captain/Admiral character.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I thought that they had already stated its in the prime universe?

I believe they did, and I just read that Fuller confirmed that again today.

So 2223 or 2255 it seems are the two possibilities for "10 years before Kirk". That Fuller mentioned that this dramatizes an event referenced briefly in TOS suggests to me it's the latter.

 

[Nelson Au]

Lets see what Fuller brings us. I'll be open to it, though I admit it is a change to see a series from the point of view of a lower officer. Perhaps as was posted above, this character could be the commander of the mission. Sisko wasn't a Captain at the start, but he was a commander.

Still don't like that ship design.

 

[Sam Favate]

I believe "The Cage" took place 10 or 11 years before "Where No Man Has Gone Before," meaning that the Enterprise, under Capt. Pike, is out there in this timeframe, and Spock is his science officer. Will the Discovery uniforms reflect that? (Probably not.)

I always thought a prequel series about Capt. Pike and his crew would have been great.

 

[joshEH]

Best part is, you can actually bring back Bruce Motherfucking Greenwood as Pike if you want to, in this continuity.

So 2223 or 2255 it seems are the two possibilities for "10 years before Kirk". That Fuller mentioned that this dramatizes an event referenced briefly in TOS suggests to me it's the latter.

Be hysterically funny if it was the Axanar peace-mission, LOL.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Confirmation of the global distribution of the new series.

Strange New World: Streaming TREK to a Global Audience