Star Trek: Discovery - 2017 New Voyages!

New Star Trek Series Premieres January 2017

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CBS Television Studios announced today it will launch a totally new Star Trek television series in January 2017. The new series will blast off with a special preview broadcast on the CBS Television Network. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the United States on CBS All Access, the Network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.

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The brand-new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.

Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the new Star Trek TV series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster films Star Trek (2009) with Roberto Orci, and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams.

The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Kurtzman is also an executive producer for the hit CBS television series Scorpion and Limitless, along with Kadin and Orci, and for Hawaii Five-0 with Orci.

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Details seem a little vague, what do we think? :flash

I think the timing for this is just about right. While I'm not a big fan of Abrahm's rebooted universe (and in particular, Into Darkness which I feel was simply one big in-joke taken too far) the first movie felt fresh and enjoyable. If they can keep this feeling fresh, they should have a hit on their hands.

There's no point in moaning about this possibly being set in the new timeline rather than the original (as I've no doubt that's the direction they'll take) so let's just accept it, then sit back and enjoy the ride. As long as it's well-cast with decent writers onboard I'm sure it'll be fine. We'll have a fresh new production team onboard which will be a break from the past (on tv, at least)...imo, the biggest problem with the last set of tv series (from TNG through to Enterprise) was that many of the same people were involved with them and the whole concept simply felt stale after a while. The spin-offs, although given different settings and time periods, still felt pretty much the same (with the possible exception of DS9) and could have benefitted from a major injection of fresh blood from top to bottom to freshen things up. Having said that, just look at what Fred Freiberger did with the original series...killed it stone dead! I suppose it's a hard choice for tv bosses the world over...take the chance on someone new revitalising a tired and ailing but highly popular series (but if it backfires, killing it off in the process!) or just keep things as they are and watch it suffer a slow and lingering death...

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Originally Posted by MacNimon

Having said that, just look at what Fred Freiberger did with the original series...killed it stone dead!

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He didn't do much for Space 1999 either!


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It could be good. Enough time has passed since Enterprise for there to be a hunger for a new show and fresh blood to run it. The problem with Voyager and Enterprise was the lack of risk.. it was all quite cosy, and as MacNimon says, they all tred the same ground. There was so much potential in Voyager that was rarely filled.

Make it all about the exploration of the universe, not about Starfleet, not about firing charged particle beams at things... don't play it safe!

I'm not a huge Trek fan as such, but I'm quite excited about this. I enjoyed the new films, and really hope somebody gives it the relaunch it deserves - that is, just like the revived Who & Dallas, I hope it honours the old shows but gives it a great big modern boot up the arse.

New showrunner announced: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/09...k-bryan-fuller

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The same year, Fuller said one idea would is to not have the show set on the Enterprise, but the U.S.S. Reliant, perhaps best known for being hijacked by Kahn in the franchise’s second feature film Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn

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I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for Excelsior.
http://www.daisydownunder.com/images/sTL49.jpg

I would be more excited by a new crew set in the same universe as the films. Chris Pine could occasionally pop up to Smug at them.

Bryan Fuller, good news IMO. He's been behind two of my favourite shows, Pushing Daisies & Heroes.

I like Fuller a lot too, along with Pushing Daisies and Heroes I really liked Wonderfalls, and adored Hannibal (at times, at least). He's certainly made me interested in the new trek show now, whereas before I was a bit sceptical about it.

Don't like the new Enterprise design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ELhoYnjtJg

It's certainly a bit different. But I did like the starbase built into the asteroid. That's a great idea.

I think I'll let myself get really excited for this series. Hopefully it'll be a great, optimistic sci-fi space series without the tired feeling of late Voyager or Enterprise.

And it abbreviates to ST : D.

It's different, I'll give it that. But is this really the final design? Hopefully it'll look better in the final cut. I don't think they've actually started filming this yet, have they? And it isn't really a redesigned Enterprise anyway but another ship altogether...

Which brings me to the title which was rumoured to be simply Star Trek...it looks like it's now Star Trek Discovery which looks like it's being named after the ship in question. One of the rumours I've heard about this new series is that each season will feature a different cast as a different crew in a differnt setting...I wonder if the series title will change each season to reflect this, if this is indeed the case?

I gather this has been postponed again, originally due to launch this month, then May, now... well, nobody seems quite sure.

I hate to say it but the fact that the show will only be available on a paid subscription service (other than the premier) will probably doom it to failure.

Anyone seen it yet? :)

It turned up on Netlix this morning, so I watched both episodes. It takes a little while to get going, but once the story starts it becomes quite tense (in part one) and there's some good action scenes (in part two). I'm not a huge fan of Klingons TBH, and it does get a bit weary having to read all their dialogue because its been made 'authentic' by having them only speak Klingon, but they certainly look very striking.

I'm glad I'm not a big Trek fan, because yet another redesign of the Klingons would be something to wrestle with. Similarly, it's a bizarre move (at least on the basis of the first 2 eps, it's possible that it may make more sense later on) to have the lead character 'adopted' by Sarek, ie Spock's Dad. A bit like mentions of the Eye of Harmony in the DW TV Movie, it seems like a misguided attempt to mix in some continuity to please the fans, but done in such a way that I would imagine it's more likely to irritate them.

It's very hard to judge the series, however, based on the opener - the Discovery itself isn't even mentioned in the first two episodes, and Jason Isaacs as its Captain doesn't appear (although he is in the titles, so he must have a really good agent). The main character is well-played, but its not clear whether (m)any of the other characters from these first two episodes will appear in the series proper.

So... it's OK, but doesn't actually give much of an insight into the series itself. Hopefully it isn't going to be 'a tale of war with the Klingons' because that sounds tedious in the extreme.

Well, my husband and I enjoyed it. Although the fact that it was basically a two episode prologue to the series proper does mean that we'll have to wait for next week for it to really get going.

I enjoyed it, for the most part. I wasn't quite sure what to make of the redesigned Klingons, though...an update in much the same manner that DW has updated the likes of Silurians, maybe modernising the look but not entirely necessary imo. More annoying was the continual use of English subtitles while the Klingons spoke in their native language...as Andrew says, it tries to make it more authentic (and works as a novelty for a short time) but by the time you're into lengthy Klingon-only sequences in episode 2 it starts to grate a bit. If this is the way they intend to g o with this aspect of the series, I hope that use of the Klingons is kept to a minimum from here on in! I wonder if they'll do the same with other alien species they encounter and have them all speak in their native tongues? And it really must be quite annoying for those viewers who may have learning difficulties/can't read and struggle to read the subtitles and so wouldn't know what was going on...

Those minor niggles out of the way, I have to say that I really enjoyed this opening 2-parter. Yes, it was a bit clunky and by-the-numbers at times but so were all the previous Trek pilots with the possible exception of the original series pilots The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before (both of which stand head and shoulders above this in terms of imagination). It's hard to compare this so far with complete series of the past, but it certainly more than holds its own with the likes of Encounter At Farpoint, Emissary, Caretaker and Broken Bow. Maybe not a glowing recommendation, but given that all the later Trek series improved dramatically after their pilot episodes then I'm reasonably optimistic about this series future. Highlights for me included the interaction between the main cast characters, it felt natural and they all worked well together. I hope we'll see some of the survivors again as the series progresses. Niggles included the retroactive continuity regarding Sarek, introducing us to a previously unmentioned half-human, half-Vulcan adopted sibling of Spock. And a near-repeat of the Into Darkness scene with the ship low down in the atmosphere practically down at ground level; it didn't work in the movie and it doesn't work here (admittedly it looks great, though!).

Overall, it's flawed but ultimately an enjoyable piece of tv worth the look. It's more of a prologue than a proper series opener, so we'll have to see how things settle down. A wee bit of dodgy acting aside the cast is very likeable and the effects are excellent, this series looks fantastic. A promising start.

The title sequence is totally different from previous series as well, isn't it? It owes more to modern series such as Westworld rather than previous Treks. The theme itself isn't instantly memorable although it's nice to hear a hint of the original featured in there. It might grow on me through time.

I thought the first two episodes were okay, and better than expected after the troubled production history, but the third was much stronger and I enjoyed it a lot.

Has anyone here seen The Orville? It's basically Seth MacFarlane's take on Star Trek The Next Generation, and on certain levels is so similar to TNG that I'm amazed he hasn't been sued. It's not like Family Guy or any of his other shows either, there are jokes but they're largely mild and the plotlines are very, very Trek-esque. I'm still not quite sure what to make of it, and MacFarlane's not a great actor unfortunately, but at the same time I do find it amiable enough and plan to carry on watching it.

I agree. This episode was much stronger and may even have worked a bit better if this had been the pilot. It would have been nice to have actually been introduced to the characters here, with a little bit of mystery as to why Michael was such a disliked person and how she came to be Starfleet's first mutineer which could have then been explored in flashback as the season progressed.

Anybody else still watching? It's still, for me, struggling to feel really 'Star Trek'-y, as 'at war with the Klingons' doesn't really smack of 'strange new worlds and new civilisations' - ironically, for a ship called Discovery there's not enough good old-fashioned discovering!!

HST, I enjoyed today's new ep a good deal. It was the old 'time loop' chestnut, so hardly an original idea, but nicely done.

I'm actually really enjoying this series now, after feeling a bit disappointed in the pilot episodes. I can see how people criticise it for not 'feeling' like Star Trek, though...personally I think it owes quite a bit to Babylon 5, even down to the type of episode titles (Context Is For Kings or Choose Your Pain aren't your traditional Trek episode titles, they're more in fitting with B5) but I've always found that the best Trek episodes are those which try to be a bit different from what was previously expected. It's not a bad thing to be not quite what you expected. And it's much more enjoyable than the rebooted movie series has been, as well. :)

Like I said, I'm really enjoying this series now and also enjoying looking forward to a new episode each week. It's been about 20 years or so since I've actually felt that about any other Trek tv series.

Got myself a 4K telly so decided to try the 1 month Netflix trial....surprised to see this was on there so have watched the first three episodes. Agree with most of the criticism upthread but I'm generally enjoying it.

Chuckled when I noticed that Netflix carries a Klingon subtitles option for the whole thing! :D

Anyone still watching this? The second half of the season has shaken off those early season jitters and has now hit its stride. People have criticized the series because they say it's not the optimistic forward-looking sort of series they were used to in the past. Well, there's a reason that may be the case...there are plenty of twists and turns some of which are well signposted and you can see coming, and others which are well signposted in hindsight and you just don't see coming (well I didn't anyway!)

I was enjoying this series before but heading into the last few episodes I'm totally hooked! I don't remember Star Trek ever surprising me so much as this weeks episode has. There are loads of new unanswered questions now and I just hope that they manage to keep up this quality!