Star Trek: Discovery

[_Abyssinia]

Some more info has come forward regarding the new Star Trek series. Amongst other things, there will be a lead female but who is not Captain, a homosexual character, and there will be many alien characters: treknews.net/2016/08/10/star-trek-discovery-set-decade-before-irk-more-details/

Thoughts?

 

[Usige]

Thoughts?

Ehhh… going backwards in time didn’t work that well for Enterprise and I don’t think trying to reimagine things a decade before TOS is going to work either. If the lesbian comander’s sexual preferences figures heavily into the story then I think it can ruin the series the same way that Person of Interest did by trying to be cool and relevant. Add that to another site where Fuller says that “sex and profanity likely will have a place on the show” and I’m out. If the 23rd century’s great acheivements are sex, profanity and homosexuality then I’m out. Those three things are signs of weak writing to me.

What do I care anyway… I’m not planning to pay CBS to watch it in any case.

 

[phil19034]

Some more info has come forward regarding the new Star Trek series. Amongst other things, there will be a lead female but who is not Captain, a homosexual character, and there will be many alien characters: treknews.net/2016/08/10/star-trek-discovery-set-decade-before-irk-more-details/

Thoughts?

The homosexual character bothers me. Not having a homosexual character doesn’t mean that a show is bigoted. But having one does further confuse our children.

Many people say “Will and Grace” made them change their minds about same sex marriage, including VP Biden.

It’s scary how many people turn to Hollywood for their moral & ethics instead of the Church (even self-proclaimed Catholics like Joe Biden)

 

[wllmjoseph]

The homosexual character bothers me. Not having a homosexual character doesn’t mean that a show is bigoted. But having one does further confuse our children.

Many people say “Will and Grace” made them change their minds about same sex marriage, including VP Biden.

It’s scary how many people turn to Hollywood for their moral & ethics instead of the Church (even self-proclaimed Catholics like Joe Biden)

I could not agree more. Star Trek’s decision to have a character that is homosexual is an affirmation that homosexuality is a valid alternative lifestyle. It is scary how many individuals who are not well grounded in their faith and in watching a show like Star Trek with a homosexual character will be influenced and will come to have a neutral or positive opinion on same sex couples.

 

[Rhubarb]

I’ve also heard the series is going to be episodic by season a la American Horror Story. Not sure of that’s going to stick or if it was just a rumor though.

 

[Padres1969]

Ehhh… going backwards in time didn’t work that well for Enterprise and I don’t think trying to reimagine things a decade before TOS is going to work either. If the lesbian comander’s sexual preferences figures heavily into the story then I think it can ruin the series the same way that Person of Interest did by trying to be cool and relevant. Add that to another site where Fuller says that “sex and profanity likely will have a place on the show” and I’m out. If the 23rd century’s great acheivements are sex, profanity and homosexuality then I’m out. Those three things are signs of weak writing to me.

What do I care anyway… I’m not planning to pay CBS to watch it in any case.

Actually it’s not clear that the Lt. Commander main female character will be the gay character. What is clear is she won’t be the commander of the Discovery. They seem to be aiming for a “lower decks” approach, at least at first. To give us a slightly different view of the bridge so to speak. They’re supposedly going for a very 70’s look on the show so we’ll see how they pull that off. But it should help a bit with the issue Enterprise had of looking too futuristic compared to the 115 year later TOS. Going back in time is a big risky of course with what happened to Enterprise, but it’s also the largest unexplored gap in Star Trek’s canon. So there’s plenty of ground for stories. Which reminds me, they’ve reiterated several times now this is going to be set in the Prime Universe, not the Abramsverse of the movies.

As for sex and a little profanity, Fuller seems interested in these aspects because they’re reality. Even in the perfect future people would still utter shocked exclamations when the bridge starts blowing up around them. In fact the lack of such utterances has always been one thing that’s been a little unrealistic about Star Trek in general. And clearly people still have sex if they’re still having babies. I mean it was implied Torres and Paris had sex on Voyager as well as Sisko and Yates on DS9 (the latter even state that Sisko forgot to get his contraception injection due to being distracted by the Dominion War which led to the unplanned pregnancy).

I’ve also heard the series is going to be episodic by season a la American Horror Story. Not sure of that’s going to stick or if it was just a rumor though.

Yes it’s going to have an overall season story it’s telling. Ostensibly about a major historical event in the Federation prior to TOS which was referenced in that series. Supposedly this event is what brought the peoples of the Federation closer together.

 

[Padres1969]

I posted this in the Star Trek Beyond thread, but it seems better placed here. Beware spoilers below, but here’s what Bryan Fuller released about Star Trek Discovery so far…

Spoilers

-The show will have a female lead character who will only be a Lt. Commander, not the captain. She will likely be a non-white character as well.
-Discovery will be set approximately 10 years before Kirk set out on the Enterprise’s 5 year mission (incidentally approximately around the time of the in universe time of the first TOS pilot “The Cage” which took place in 2254.) Which means that running into some familiar ships including the Enterprise NCC-1701 (which was launched in universe in 2245) is quite possible.
-Discovery will feature many more aliens than previous series, both new and familiar races (a makeup test show was shown that clearly was of an Andorian a few days ago).
-The show will feature a 13 episode arc that will cover a major Federation historical event referenced in TOS that lead to better “brotherhood” between the species of the Federation. Some have speculated this alludes to a heretofore unseen Klingon War and possibly the Battle of Axanar (this would also explain why CBS has been coming down so hard on the fan film Star Trek Axanar as it takes place in this same era).
-An appearance by Spock’s mother, Amanda Grayson, has been hinted as a possibility
-There will be robots, no further elaboration was given.
-Some old characters from the TOS era may make appearances at later dates, but the first season will focus on the new crew.
-The show will not feature the Romulan War (it’s about 85 years too late for that in universe) and will not feature Section 31 (at least not as a focus which torpedoes the NCC-1031/Section 31 connection.). It will not feature the original Kobiyashi Maru scenario the test is based on.
-The show will feature around 7 leads. One of whom is likely to be gay (Fuller credits the hate male he received when he was a writer on DS9 for this).
-It will be a little more edgy than the previous series given it’s online broadcast. In Fuller’s words, they want to explore if it’s appropriate when the bridge is blowing up to have someone say, "oh $#!+!
-The show’s first scenes will be on neither Earth nor any other planet.
-More information and likely a trailer will be forthcoming in approximately October.

tvline.com/2016/08/10/star-trek-discovery-amanda-grayson-spoilers-cast/
polygon.com/tv/2016/8/11/12433320/bryan-fuller-star-trek-tcas

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

 

[Drachir]

Count me out.

 

[saellis]

Hopefully they will tone down the sex. I remember the first episode of Enterprise had a scene with two crew members that looked like something out of a 1970’s porn film. (Don’t judge me for knowing this. I’ve already been to confession). It was a cheap attempt at getting high ratings. Well it didn’t work because Trekkies watch for a good story line not cheap thrills so I hope the producers remember that.

 

[Usige]

Actually it’s not clear that the Lt. Commander main female character will be the gay character.

You are correct. One source I read was written in a way to imply that there is a lesbian character who is a main focus. This was right after a section on the Lt Commander so it read as if they are the same character, but it could be that on of the other 6 mains could be a lesbian.

As for sex and a little profanity, Fuller seems interested in these aspects because they’re reality. Even in the perfect future people would still utter shocked exclamations when the bridge starts blowing up around them. In fact the lack of such utterances has always been one thing that’s been a little unrealistic about Star Trek in general. And clearly people still have sex if they’re still having babies. I mean it was implied Torres and Paris had sex on Voyager as well as Sisko and Yates on DS9 (the latter even state that Sisko forgot to get his contraception injection due to being distracted by the Dominion War which led to the unplanned pregnancy).

Yes, it was implied, but fuller said since they are not restricted to broadcast standards that it would likely be more graphic. They would film it multiple ways and see what was most natural. More natural from what standpoint? A friend that knows you are intimate or a voyeur watching through the view port?

I didn’t like the two minutes of Tucker rubbing down T’Pol in the decon chamber so I’m pretty sure “more graphic” scenes aren’t going to endear the show to me. We all have deep friendships with people without watching them roll around in bed together. There are several shows I stopped watching because they had plot dialogue interspersed during nude sex scenes. Funny thing is I don’t once remember my wife and I talking about buying a house, raising the kids, investing money or anything else of major consequnce mid coitus.

I don’t so much mind an explitive, but it would turn me off if Scotty was wandering engineering saying “I’ll f%(€ing try, Captain, but everything is f $#@ed up because this warp core is a piece of s!÷€.” Well placed profanity might add realism, but it can often make the whole show seem crass if used in abundance or part of casual conversation.

 

[Padres1969]

Hopefully they will tone down the sex. I remember the first episode of Enterprise had a scene with two crew members that looked like something out of a 1970’s porn film. (Don’t judge me for knowing this. I’ve already been to confession). It was a cheap attempt at getting high ratings. Well it didn’t work because Trekkies watch for a good story line not cheap thrills so I hope the producers remember that.

I can’t imagine they won’t remember what Trekkies like. Fuller was a writer on DS9 and a writer/producer on Voyager. Nick Meyer was involved with writing and/or directing the 3 best TOS-era movies, The Wrath of Khan, The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country. Rod Roddenberry is of course Gene’s son and has probably forgotten more about what works in Star Trek than most Trekkies. Kurtzman of course along with Abrams and Orci helped revitalize the dormant Trek franchise with the 2009 Star Trek movie.

There really couldn’t be a better pedigree of producers for this new Trek series. If anything I can see them making the sex aspect in many ways less cheap and blatant as it was when attempted during the latter part of the Golden Era. Namely things like Seven of Nine and T’Pol’s super sexed up jumpsuits or the form fitting uniforms of the late TNG/DS9 era.

 

[kingston1]

Turn off the TV. Nothing to see there.

 

[Padres1969]

Turn off the TV. Nothing to see there.

Well if you turned on a TV you wouldn’t be able to find this show anyway. It won’t be airing on TV. It’s CBS’ new streaming service that will be bringing this latest iteration of Trek to us

 

[Wildgraywolf]

Hopefully they will tone down the sex. I remember the first episode of Enterprise had a scene with two crew members that looked like something out of a 1970’s porn film. (Don’t judge me for knowing this. I’ve already been to confession). It was a cheap attempt at getting high ratings. Well it didn’t work because Trekkies watch for a good story line not cheap thrills so I hope the producers remember that.

Exactly. If you have good writing and a good story line, you don’t need eye candy, nudity, profanity, or sex and I could live without time travel episodes or story lines.

I was hoping this new series would keep closer to Gene Roddenberry’s vision, but from what I’ve read and heard so far; it seems like it’s going to be yet another disappointment.

 

[porthos11]

Exactly. If you have good writing and a good story line, you don’t need eye candy, nudity, profanity, or sex and I could live without time travel episodes or story lines.

I was hoping this new series would keep closer to Gene Roddenberry’s vision, but from what I’ve read and heard so far; it seems like it’s going to be yet another disappointment.

“Gene Roddenberry’s vision” is overrated.

 

[Padres1969]

Exactly. If you have good writing and a good story line, you don’t need eye candy, nudity, profanity, or sex and I could live without time travel episodes or story lines.

I was hoping this new series would keep closer to Gene Roddenberry’s vision, but from what I’ve read and heard so far; it seems like it’s going to be yet another disappointment.

I don’t know. They’ll be out there discovering, hence the name. They’re overacrching story will be about bringing the peoples of the Federation closer together in peace and harmony. They’ll have a diverse crew of multiple species, races, etc… Seems to be keeping very closely with Gene’s vision.

Remember Gene is the man who put guys in “skorts” on the Enterprise-D after all

 

[Wildgraywolf]

Remember Gene is the man who put guys in “skorts” on the Enterprise-D after all

Well, at least Gene’s toga idea never caught on.

 

[edwest2]

I met Gene Roddenberry personally after the original Star Trek. He was a pleasant and likable person who was enthusiastic about his future projects (both actual and contemplated) and freely shared his ideas and answered my questions.

After reading the write up in Variety, the new helmer of the concept is definitively agenda oriented. The time when Discovery takes place doesn’t bother me at all, I just want good stories free of profanity and what passes for “reality” today. The appeal of the original Star Trek was the friendship and respect shown by the crew to each other, and their willingness to risk their lives for one another and everyone else on board if need be. It was fun, the tech was revolutionary and the stories left you feeling good after each episode (the quality of each episode not varying too much) … and they did it without nudity or profanity. It still holds up, regardless of the fact that special effects have improved.

By contrast, Star Trek: The Next Generation was a stilted copy that failed to deliver realistic emotion and drama. The effects were better in some ways but that’s it. Picard’s “Make it so” line was “What? That sounds so unnatural.” Data had potential but it was never realized. He was more ‘window dressing’ for the “future.”

I’m definitely passing on this. Even though I like robots.

Ed

 

[Padres1969]

I met Gene Roddenberry personally after the original Star Trek. He was a pleasant and likable person who was enthusiastic about his future projects (both actual and contemplated) and freely shared his ideas and answered my questions.

After reading the write up in Variety, the new helmer of the concept is definitively agenda oriented. The time when Discovery takes place doesn’t bother me at all, I just want good stories free of profanity and what passes for “reality” today. The appeal of the original Star Trek was the friendship and respect shown by the crew to each other, and their willingness to risk their lives for one another and everyone else on board if need be. It was fun, the tech was revolutionary and the stories left you feeling good after each episode (the quality of each episode not varying too much) … and they did it without nudity or profanity. It still holds up, regardless of the fact that special effects have improved.

By contrast, Star Trek: The Next Generation was a stilted copy that failed to deliver realistic emotion and drama. The effects were better in some ways but that’s it. Picard’s “Make it so” line was “What? That sounds so unnatural.” Data had potential but it was never realized. He was more ‘window dressing’ for the “future.”

I’m definitely passing on this. Even though I like robots.

Ed

What were your thoughts on DS9 and/or Voyager? Because IMO both have held up much better than TNG did, in part because they injected a bit more real, then modern, world into it and they were better for it. There was conflict among the crews, they actually did morally questionable things, they failed sometimes, etc…

TNG hasn’t held up well, so I agree with you there. And part of it was because they sucked all the drama and emotion out of the crew. They were so emotionless and wooden by comparison to TOS or even their successor shows.

 

[edwest2]

What were your thoughts on DS9 and/or Voyager? Because IMO both have held up much better than TNG did, in part because they injected a bit more real, then modern, world into it and they were better for it. There was conflict among the crews, they actually did morally questionable things, they failed sometimes, etc…

TNG hasn’t held up well, so I agree with you there. And part of it was because they sucked all the drama and emotion out of the crew. They were so emotionless and wooden by comparison to TOS or even their successor shows.

Because of the letdown I felt with TNG, I didn’t invest much time in watching DS9 or Voyager, so I can’t really evaluate them as a whole. All I can say based on the little I saw, is that they didn’t impress me much.

Ed