New Star Trek TV Series 2017

There’s an odd parallel here.  The Star Trek reboot films (of which so far we have three) and the Star Wars third trilogy (of which so far we have The Force Awakens), both of which have had directorial involvement from J.J. Abrams, have both taken flak from the traditionalist part of the fan base as deviating too much from the originals.  And now we have an upcoming Star Trek new series Discovery and an upcoming Star Wars spin-off film Rogue One, both of which are set slightly before the originals in their respective timelines and both of which therefore might (in the case of Discovery) or apparently do (in the case of Rogue One) stick fairly well to what was established in the originals.  What makes these convergences even more ironic is that these two competing sci-fi megafranchises with very similar titles (eight letters each, with Star as the first word in both cases) have long been regarded as very different creatures, with Star Trek arguably being more grounded in the hard sci-fi tradition (and in its TV incarnations having a proclivity for exploring social and moral issues) and with Star Wars arguably hailing more from the fantasy sci-fi (and more broadly the action-adventure) tradition.

Eh, I’ll watch all Trek, even bad Trek!  Never was a Star Wars fan.  (The Starfighter battles sure, but, really, space wizards with flaming swords?  Not my cuppa tea)

We also have this gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4JUxQe4P4g  proving once and for all that Trek science is better than Star Wars science!  Puny lasers!  :evil:

While I continue to watch Voyager, Enterprise and for the 7th time, Deep Space Nine, the series is clearly and deeply tired.  Star Trek is a muddled, retconned and threebooted soap opera.  Star Wars is “sticking to the script” by copying itself.    Enterprise was such a mess in terms of story and characters, I only hope they choose a total unknown for the next lead.    New enterprises are put out by replicator and crewed by random assignment; the Enterprise Z has been cloned and promptly blown up as it left space dock.  A literal heap of destroyed enterprises stand on the scrap heap of history, being destroyed 2 and 3 times per movie soon the scrapping will outpace the building of faceless waves of inconceivably designated capital ships where battlecruisers are smaller than cruisers and where the most competent and capable officer in the universe flies the flagship into the periphery and corrupt, self-motivated (or alien dominated) idiots run the general staff back on earth.

Kate Mulgrew’s best work is in a prison drama…not at all on Voyager, at least she is capable of offering up something creative and new.  The games continue to breathe new life into the franchise;  an awesome role reversal.

I cannot agree more. Would anyone not agree when looking at DS9 seriously? (Not saying you are not allowed to just look at it superficially and not like it, as some do…maybe exactly because it is more difficult just to consume DS9 for pure entertainment than other Star Trek shows; although Star Trek never is without thought, other shows have more light episodes than DS9 does).

DS9…. I’ve watched it, but I’ve never been a big fan, contrary to most of the other Star Trek variants. Instead of “to boldly go where no one (or even: no man, for the purists) has gone before”, their motto seems to be “to boldly skulk in our big well armed space station and hope that nobody unfriendly to us will go where they have not gone before”. It’s a sign of the times…. TOS is like the Apollo program, DS9 is like the ISS. So I suppose that in the end it’s not the quality of the acting or the deeper philosophy behind it, but the spirit of the series that mostly appeals to me.

By the way, thanks everybody for all this information, even if I’ve only been browsing it. I hadn’t even noticed the new series!

Did anyone ever count how many times Kirk and co actually went where no man has gone before in TOS?

My guess would be about 3 times in 79 episodes, though I can’t think of any offhand. Still, more than in No Man’s Sky…

Discovery launch delayed until May 2017
http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/09/star-trek-discovery-sets-new-course-for-may-2017/

@LHoffman:

For some reason that seemed inevitable.

This sounds a bit like a predestination paradox.

@LHoffman:

How do you mean?

It was just a failed attempt at a joke around the concept of inevitability.  I was thinking of the DS9 episode where the two guys from Temporal Investigations say that they hate predestination paradoxes.

The producer remarks about wanting to get everything right and that those few months help sound reassuring. Lets hope its not just cover.

Interesting links in this article, re costume design and such. I dont want them to tamper with Romulans, though. Recognizability and easy connection is important to me, even if a fresh detail here and there is surely ok, especially for the new generation of fans they want to create.

@alexgreat:

The producer remarks about wanting to get everything right and that those few months help sound reassuring.

That seems to genuinely be the case:

http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/09/star-trek-discovery-producers-begged-les-moonves-to-reschedule-show/

"We’ve delayed our Star Trek [launch] 'til May. For those who think that’s something to be worried about, let me assure you: it’s not. The producers came into my office last week and begged me – they said, ‘We are creating an entire universe; you know how fanatical Star Trek fans are. We’re creating this universe, we need a couple more months to get the effects right, to get the world right. PLEASE let us have until May.’ " While there are some fans who have expressed concerns (and complaints) that this delay means only bad things for DISCOVERY, a great deal of reaction on social media appears to be some unsurprised relief that the show will have some more time to coalesce behind-the-scenes ahead of the public debut.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Names First Official Cast Members
By TrekCore Staff -  November 29, 2016

After a week of hot rumors about the casting for STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, CBS has today officially named the first three names in the new Trek production’s on-screen team.

Noted character actor Doug Jones will be portraying Lieutenant Saru, “a Starfleet science officer, and new alien species to the Star Trek universe.” Jones is well known for his work under prosthetic makeup – a natural for Trek – from such films as Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy series, along with the recent Falling Skies television series.

As previously reported, Michelle Yeoh has in fact beamed aboard of captain of the starship Shenzhou, but her character’s name is Captain Georgiou, not ‘Han Bo’ as rumored in the trades. Yeoh will portray the first on-screen Asian female captain of a Federation vessel.

Finally, Anthony Rapp – one of the original cast members of RENT on Broadway – will take on the role of Lt. Stamets, science officer and astromycologist (“fungus expert”) aboard the Discovery. This casting choice continues Trek’s longstanding tradition of including well-versed stage actors in its ensembles.

http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/11/star-trek-discovery-names-first-official-cast-members/

@LHoffman:

Sounds like he will still be around.

Then again, perhaps not:

http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/12/bryan-fuller-im-not-involved-in-star-trek-discovery-production/
Bryan Fuller: “I’m Not Involved” in DISCOVERY Production

A bit more news:
http://trekcore.com/blog/2016/12/star-trek-discovery-lands-three-klingon-roles/