Star Trek: Discovery

[quigonkenny]

The details of the ship make it look reminiscent of the TOS movies period, so I'm going to guess that it's a refit of a ship that started service before the Enterprise, but is somewhat its contemporary as well. Maybe a storyline that takes place in another area of the galaxy at the same time as the Kirk Enterprise's second five-year mission.

[aohige]

So... is this Roddenberry-verse or Abrams-verse?

I really would prefer the former.

[CrowKenobi]

Originally Posted by aohige

So... is this Roddenberry-verse or Abrams-verse?

I really would prefer the former.

This is set in the "prime universe" aka "Roddenberry-verse," so no Abrams shenanigans here.

[Ithekro]

We just don't know the "when" in the timeline as the producers are keeping that very quiet.

[monster]

Originally Posted by monster

Initials aside, the three-character designations that I've seen for the previous shows are TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT. I'm not sure if those are official designations and I don't remember where I saw them, but if they are official, then this one would probably be DIS.

Well: https://twitter.com/jvancitters/stat...83274208198656

So, according to that, Voyager is VGR and Discovery will be DSC.

Originally Posted by Ithekro

We just don't know the "when" in the timeline as the producers are keeping that very quiet.

AnimeFan188 might be on to something with the ship's number, but I was (and still am) hoping for a post-Nemesis story.

[aohige]

Originally Posted by CrowKenobi

This is set in the "prime universe" aka "Roddenberry-verse," so no Abrams shenanigans here.

Oooooh sweeeeeeet. Much thanks.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by monster

Well: https://twitter.com/jvancitters/stat...83274208198656

So, according to that, Voyager is VGR and Discovery will be DSC. AnimeFan188 might be on to something with the ship's number, but I was (and still am) hoping for a post-Nemesis story.

VGR was the "bad guy" in TMP. It's VOY. DSC seems fine, though.

[monster]

Source

The Bryan Fuller series will be led by a woman, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter, with the role potentially also being diverse. The character, however, will not be a captain, with Fuller noting that decision allows the series to explore stories from a different point of view. The top-ranking member of the fleet will instead be a lieutenant commander, Fuller revealed Wednesday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, adding: "But with caveats."

...

Fuller confirmed that his Star Trek will also feature a gay character after he received hate-mail during his time on Voyager following a rumor that speculated that one of the show's characters could be out. He noted that fellow exec producer Alex Kurtzman was the first to pitch the idea, which was already something Fuller had planned on including in the 10-episode series.

...

As for what the new Star Trek series would focus on, Fuller said he wasn't allowed to reveal too much. "There's an event in Star Trek history and Star Fleet that had been talked about but never fully explored," he said of the serialized story. "We're set in the Prime universe, 10 years before Captain Kirk. We have the opportunity to bridge the gap between the Enterprise and the original series and really help us redefine the visual style of Star Trek."

...

Sources tell THR the rest of the cast will also feature an openly gay actor to play one one of the male leads (which Fuller confirmed), a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser and a British male doctor.

Notable information is in bold.

I'm confused about that statement about a 10-episode series. I do not want to pay for streaming just for a mini-series.

I'm intrigued about the caveats for the lead lieutenant commander. We already had Sisko as a commander who was later promoted to captain, so that itself isn't new. Although I suppose, being set in a ship, they usually prefer a captain to lead.

EDIT: As for the rest of the cast, aside from the doctor and possibly the adviser (advisor?), they don't seem to be part of the normal crew of a ship. Does that mean there'll be less emphasis on the crew itself? Or are we going to have a thrown-together kind of crew for this ship.

[FlareKnight]

Hmm not sure what to say here.

I'm not a fan of where they are going time period wise. Can't we move forward in time here? Enterprise was ok, but how far back it was in time....wasn't exactly a favorite element of it. I want to see events past TNG, Voyager and DS9. Does it matter what Universe this is taking place in if it is 10 years before Kirk?

It is odd that the lead character won't be the captain. Odd....but hey it could work out alright.

I just hope this doesn't fail. Star Trek works best as a TV series and if this goes down...that'll probably be it.

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I just hope this doesn't fail. Star Trek works best as a TV series and if this goes down...that'll probably be it.

We haven't had a Star Trek TV series since Enterprise though, and that was a decade ago, with the Abram's movies making up most of the exposure.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by LoweGear

We haven't had a Star Trek TV series since Enterprise though, and that was a decade ago, with the Abram's movies making up most of the exposure.

Kind of what I mean. This feels like the last ditch effort to bring this thing back. If it doesn't do well then how many more years before they try again? Who knows how long the movies will keep going.

[Ithekro]

We'll see. Maybe (only one episode will be on TV at first, than some service thing)

The time period would be basically just a year or so after "The Cage", the original pilot episode with Captain Pike on USS Enterprise. So I wonder if they'll use those old turtleneck uniforms and have a sort of early 60s retro sci-fi look, or if it will looks more like the more recent Abrams' films, since the 2009 film (while an alternate timeline) sets their newer uniforms and USS Enterprise right around the same time as "Discovery" in the Prime timeline. In the 2009 movie, Captain Pike recruited James T. Kirk in to Starfleet in 2255, the same year this new series seems to be set. I know different timeline, but that's the thing, these characters are still around, one way or another.

If they go by the old timeline, USS Enterprise is under Captain Pike with a young science officer named Spock. Is first office is a mysterious woman that just goes by the title "Number One" (played by the late Majel Barrett). James T. Kirk should probably be a young Ensign or Lieutenant, possibly on USS Farragut. There should be something going on involving the planet Axanar, as Kirk has a metal for a Peace mission there form his early career.

Still no real idea of what kind of story they will tell with USS Discovery.

[DerGilga]

As for what the new Star Trek series would focus on, Fuller said he wasn't allowed to reveal too much. "There's an event in Star Trek history and Star Fleet that had been talked about but never fully explored," he said of the serialized story. "We're set in the Prime universe, 10 years before Captain Kirk. We have the opportunity to bridge the gap between the Enterprise and the original series and really help us redefine the visual style of Star Trek."

So what could this be? The Federation/Romulan war?

The reboot will be putting a new spin on Captain Kirk with the central character played by a woman.

at least we finally have now a female lead! Progress!

hey, who are you?


this article give me SJW-fibes.....

[Ithekro]

The Earth-Romulan War would be about 90 years in the past. That was one of the places Enterprise was suppose to go by its seventh season

However there are some talk about conflicts with the Klingons prior to the Organian Peace Treaty. Perhaps a war, perhaps just a number of incidents or one off battles since contact in 2151. So 100 years of contact with the Klingons and what does the Federation get? A heating up Cold War that eventually will erupt with Kirk is in command of the Enterprise near Organia.


I wonder if they mean that the show's lead won't be the captain of the ship, but a female officer on that ship. Meaning we'd be getting the point of view of someone who is not in command of a starship or base, but just regular officer.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

I wonder if they mean that the show's lead won't be the captain of the ship, but a female officer on that ship. Meaning we'd be getting the point of view of someone who is not in command of a starship or base, but just regular officer.

According to that article, there should be no one who has the rank of commander or captain as the lieutenant commander will be the top-ranking member of the fleet*. In essence, the captain of the ship will not actually hold the Starfleet rank of captain. Although the article also mentions a couple of admirals as being part of the cast, but I guess they won't be a regular crew of the ship, although they'll have a regular presence in the series. And from the wording in the article, that lieutenant commander is probably also the female lead.

* Speaking of fleet, I wonder if that's just referring to Starfleet or if the USS Discovery would be part of an actual fleet of ships.

[Archon_Wing]

Sounds interesting.

I've always felt the episodic works better for Star Trek, as the entire brand of space opera style storylines is actually not what a lot of Star Trek is about. The journey of discovery which usualy helped people understand themselves was a slow and gradual process. The movies always tried to up the drama and action factor but outside of being a Trek fan it'd be hard to understand what was going on and as a result a lot of them turned out awful. The worst were probaly the TNG movies where the generally Diplomatic and philosophical Patrick Steward err I mean Picard tried to be changed into an action hero and that was very questionable. And Star Trek action can be nice at times but honestly it's really little more than flashy beam spam and shaky camera.

It might be best to be in its own continuity like the movies are because being tangled under a pile of canon is never fun.

[quigonkenny]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

There should be something going on involving the planet Axanar, as Kirk has a metal for a Peace mission there form his early career.

Probably why that fan film had all that trouble. If the new series is covering the same ground, they've got every right to axe a competing fan project.

Originally Posted by DerGilga

So what could this be? The Federation/Romulan war?

You can pretty safely bet that's the one thing it won't cover. The Romulan War happened not too long after the time period covered by Enterprise, and at this point in time in the original timeline (which, as they have made it a point to mention as often as possible, this is set in), no one in the Federation had had any contact with the Romulans for decades. No one would, until a later TOS episode. The current enemy of the Federation at this point would be the Klingons, and there would be open hostilities either currently or in the quite recent past.

Originally Posted by DerGilga

this article give me SJW-fibes.....

Star Trek has always done a pretty decent job of walking that line without stepping too far over it, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that their primary interest is in making a good story and not ticking boxes. Genre journalists are notoriously and rabidly SJW, though, so it's not surprising that those are the kinds of questions (and prepared answers) that would come up.

[AnimeFan188]

'Star Trek: Discovery' Plot: Could New Series Steal
The Sheliak Corporate From 'The Next Generation'?:

"While it’s likely Klingons will have a major role in Star Trek:
Discovery, the timeline Bryan Fuller gave for the show’s setting could
suggest a much more obscure and alien conflict: the negotiations with
the Sheliak Corporate.

Fuller has given us two hints about the plot of Star Trek: Discovery .
First: “There’s an incident, an event, in the history of Starfleet that has
been talked about, but never fully explored.” Fuller also gave us a
window of time, saying, “it’s set 10 years before Kirk.” This has been
widely interpreted to mean 10 years before the events of Star Trek:
The Original Series."

See:

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/star-tr...eration-550249

[Ithekro]

That would be the correct year. I sort of forgot about them since they were kind of the threat of a Data episode, that was dealt with by legal matters and Picard sifting though a very complex treaty to allow Data time to complete his mission.

I don't know how powerful they might be, just that they were a non-humanoid lifeform and very xenophobic. The treaty ceded several worlds to the Sheliak. So the Federation lost that incident, or found it the best way to deal with the situation.

But could that mean the main character is basically a lawyer?

[monster]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

http://www.idigitaltimes.com/star-tr...eration-550249

From the referenced article in that article, it seems this series will be multi-season, but the first season will only be 13 episodes. I'm guessing they're experimenting with the stream-only broadcast and would not commit to more episodes for now. Maybe that will change in later seasons depending on how well the first season did.

I don't have any strong opinion either way on the ship design, but for those who don't like the one in the teaser, there may still be hope for them as it is still a work in progress, unless they absolutely do not like the part about the "elements of illustrator Ralph McQuarrie’s Star Trek: Phase II designs, along with those of 1970s-era race cars, Lamborghinis and James Bond vehicles."

The whole "re-imaginings of existing aliens" part could be interesting, although I kind of don't see the point in a prequel story, unless it's just more reference to the Klingons.

Finally, I'm not certain how I feel about robots being in the ship. Considering what Data went through in TNG and The Doctor in VGR, I hope these robots are just used as tools and not more artificial intelligence that are treated as part of the crew as Data and The Doctor were obviously still new territories for their era.

Originally Posted by Ithekro

But could that mean the main character is basically a lawyer?

Probably not. If it is about them, the Discovery will probably act as transportation and security for the treaty and/or possibly as one of the few who engaged the Sheliak prior to the treaty.