Star Trek Discovery, finally a trailer

[ImperiousLeader]

I'm liking the look of the new show, and I'm liking the cast. Not sold on the Klingons and I'm not sure if the stories will pan out. But, for now ... my appetite for new Star Trek is definitely up.

[SaintRidley]

I'm not going to pay for their streaming thing just to watch this, unfortunately.

[Legato Endless]

Video not available for anyone else? Not sure how seriously we're supposed to take the guy whose race's hat is to sense death approaching? Trek has had psychic aliens before, but Guinan wasn't half that melodramatic about everything.

I'm not going to pay for their streaming thing just to watch this, unfortunately.

Neither will a lot of other Trekkies when they tune in via the Internet I imagine. <_<
I'm tempted to do the tryout sign up, and then cancel after binging the first season.

[Kitten Champion]

I believe the pilot episode is going to be released normally, while the rest is going to be stuck behind a paywall? So I'll watch that and decide if I care. My hopes for it came largely from the fact that Bryan Fuller was initially so involved in its production, and now that's not so much a thing.

As for the trailer, not really doing anything for me. It looks artificial. Not in the CGI-sense - I expect that - but in the way the characters are positioned and shot, the music, and lighting... feel more like something from a video game ala Mass Effect than the nuTrek movies even.

I'm not really going to judge the show based on that, though. As I said, I'll be here for the pilot.

[JadedDM]

Video not available for anyone else?

Not working for me, either.

I'm tempted to do the tryout sign up, and then cancel after binging the first season.

You'll have to wait awhile then. From what I heard, they are not releasing the whole first season at once like Netflix does, but one episode at a time each week, like a normally broadcasted show, specifically to prevent people from doing exactly what you propose here.

[Legato Endless]

You'll have to wait awhile then. From what I heard, they are not releasing the whole first season at once like Netflix does, but one episode at a time each week, like a normally broadcasted show, specifically to prevent people from doing exactly what you propose here.

That's arguably the only thing in their whole release model that makes any sense. My next question would be if CBS allows family account sharing like Netflix or Apple?

Apparently the original trailer that went up on the homepage requires Flash, because I guess CBS' homepage is still living in the last decade.

Here's youtube: Trailer

As for the trailer, not really doing anything for me. It looks artificial. Not in the CGI-sense - I expect that - but in the way the characters are positioned and shot, the music, and lighting... feel more like something from a video game ala Mass Effect than the nuTrek movies even.

The galaxy map would be the obvious thing to point out, but more profoundly I think it's the frequency of the shot/reverse shot that makes this seem like Shepard could walk through a door at any moment.

As for only seeing the pilot, I'm not sure. I'm expecting something of a bait and switch in the first few episodes, even if the Shenzou isn't simply blown up, as the Discovery doesn't seem to be in the trailer at all.

[Kitten Champion]

The galaxy map would be the obvious thing to point out, but more profoundly I think it's the frequency of the shot/reverse shot that makes this seem like Shepard could walk through a door at any moment.

That, and the main character - presumably, at least - honestly looks like one of the presets for Shepard.

Plus the preponderance of lens flare. which is frequent and relatively tolerable within the visuals of ME but really kills Discovery's whole aesthetic for me.

As for only seeing the pilot, I'm not sure. I'm expecting something of a bait and switch in the first few episodes, even if the Shenzou isn't simply blown up, as the Discovery doesn't seem to be in the trailer at all.

Given how this is being distributed it would make sense from the production-side to have some serious shake-up/cliffhanger at the start rather than a more... comfortable network television approach to writing.

I'm more interested in just a general sense of quality with the pilot. I mean, I've watched plenty of shows which didn't really impress me at first because its premise interested me and it could potentially get better -- accepting that pilots can be pretty bad even for some great series. I won't with Discovery. It'll need to exceed my expectations or I'll just ignore its existence. If I like it enough, I'll consider getting it later... somehow.

[Alent]

I saw the trailer earlier, but it looks like they're still having technical problems, it kept cutting to some weird generic fantasy movie with some weird Drow/Jaffa/Orc Rubber Mask costumes performing a magic ritual.

Other than the weird stream problems, it looks like it might have potential. It looks like they fixed the Starship CG somewhat, but it's still struggling and the "Teasers always lie" effect is in full force, keeping me from really forming any opinion. Overall, I'm kinda wondering what their plan is to reach season 2 given the death sentence that CBS All Access is.

[Joran]

Video not available for anyone else? Not sure how seriously we're supposed to take the guy whose race's hat is to sense death approaching? Trek has had psychic aliens before, but Guinan wasn't half that melodramatic about everything.

That was the thing that took me out of the trailer. I'm otherwise fully on-board with Captain Michelle Yeoh. (who is probably going to bite it in the first episode)

[Aotrs Commander]

Well. Apparently, outside the US, we're not even allowed to look at the trailer (unless they took it down for everyone). Both of the links lead to "video not available" for me.

I was only marginally interested anyway, but that's not really going to help them...

[Hopeless]

Ditto even the YouTube link doesn't work apparently advertising doesn't exist outside of the States and probably within it if they don't care for the comments from those that can watch it!

[Rogar Demonblud]

There's a mirror for one of the Canadian stations that seems to work internationally--if I can find a link, I'll post it.

[Fishybugs]

How many episodes do you give them before they delve into the 'Mirror Mirror" universe?

[Mando Knight]

Here's a mirror that should be an all-regions link.

[Excession]

Here's one that worked for me in New Zealand:

Stay away from the comments there though.

[Aotrs Commander]

Eeh... 'S not immediately grabbing me, I'll be honest.

And I liked Enterprise, so...

[Darth Ultron]

I'm a Star Trek fan, and would sure like a new show to watch......but, eh, the trailer does not look all that great.

If it's just ten years before the original series, why does nothing look even close to the look of that show?

I guess we get a black female Vulcan (and gay, right?) captain? A Vulcan captain sounds very boring...if she always does the logical thing, then she won't hold the idiot ball like most Star Trek captains. And can you have a captain that shows no emotion and still be interesting? Or you think they will make her ''half human'' or make her some type of wild emotional Vulcan?

And they encounter evil Klingons? And they are ''bumpy forehead Klingons''? Guess they will be like renegade Klingons that never got infected with the ''look human'' virus...

And putting it on the CBS online whatever, just makes sure few people will get to watch it too....

[Clertar]

The black female is the first officer. She's not Vulcan, but was raised by a Vulcan. The captain is Michelle Yeoh, altough the protagonist is not her but her Number One.

[Darth Ultron]

The black female is the first officer. She's not Vulcan, but was raised by a Vulcan. The captain is Michelle Yeoh, altough the protagonist is not her but her Number One.

So....this will be a Star Trek show with the First Officer as the ''Star'', and the captain will just be a guest star? Er, odd idea. Might be even worse when they go all ''everyone is fair and equal on our ensemble show...except the captain.''

And a ''fake'' Vulcan...wow, that just sounds so bad.....like a bad writers trick to get the best of both worlds. Like in some shows she can be all ''evil communist Rodenberry logic'' and then she can also be ''normal middle American emotional '' when the writers flip a switch. Though bet she will spend more time normal emotional...and save the evil logic for very special episodes(like when she blows up all the gas powered cars to save Polotion from the global warming monster, as it is not logical to use gasoline ever..wink, wink).

And it's female captain and first officer? Hope that does not mean the whole rest of the crew is all guys. I'd love a ''politically correct'' show that had like 9 women and only one guy....

[Rogar Demonblud]

No, the captain for the show is Jason Isaacs. The fan debate seems to be splitting between Yeoh's character getting promoted out of the captain's seat and getting killed in the first episode.

[Legato Endless]

And they encounter evil Klingons? And they are ''bumpy forehead Klingons''? Guess they will be like renegade Klingons that never got infected with the ''look human'' virus...

Trek was never going back to that and has consistently rejected any chance of doing so. Ridged Klingons were the norm on 22nd century Enterprise and the NuTrek universe. Roddenberry didn't like the design and the instant The Motion Picture gave the chance to alter it the franchise has never looked back besides a sentimental gag on DS9's Tribble episode.

Some of the aesthetic changes I get, as while I'm neutral on NuTrek's Federation being financed by Apple, it's not like you can port TOS design aspects verbatim into a modern series. Design has to evolve even if it makes for strangeness in the visual continuity.

Then again, I would have preferred a post Voyager Star Trek: Andromeda that updates sensibilities for a modern audience like TNG did all those years ago. For a series about the future of humanity we've spent the last 15 years swimming through looking back and celebrating nostalgia. The cynical part of me suspects that refusal to evolve or die is what's likely dooming the Franchise. But we'll see.

[Olinser]

I'm not going to pay for their streaming thing just to watch this, unfortunately.

I'd be willing to pay SOME amount, but I'm sure as heck not paying $6 a month for access to JUST CBS shows.

Most likely how this is going to fall out is I'm going to wait for a full season to be done, subscribe for 1 month, watch the show, cancel the subscription, and wait for the next season.

Not to mention I'm already EXTRAORDINARILY skeptical about the alleged main character not being the captain/commander.

The entire reason the Starfleet Captain/Commander has been the main character in past shows is because they are the final word. They are the Federation's representative and trusted/empowered with extraordinary authority to make decisions. The First Officer does NOT have that power. They're the second in command, and basically make zero outside decisions unless the Captain has been incapacitated.

So to make the First Officer the main character is almost certainly going to result in an absurd number of stupid forced 'Captain isn't around/injured, I'M in charge' episodes and situations.

Its just totally unnecessary and really demonstrates they're more interested in being 'DIFFERENT' than actually writing a good story.

Given the already lengthy delays on this series, the questionable story choices, and the unbelievably bad CBS All Access idea, this show is going to be a massive flop.

I just hope it doesn't kill the franchise.

[Rodin]

It'll probably depend on how the story is framed. For example, Jack O'Neill is not the head of Stargate Command. He's not even the head of the Stargate expedtion teams - he's the head of one team. The person with final command authority is General Hammond. O'Neill gets to make a lot of decisions by virtue of most of the excitement taking place on missions to other planets. Even so, there's plenty of drama gained by having him disagree with Hammond on issues where the're multiple valid responses.

I think that would be harder to do with the First Officer of a naval ship, but certainly not impossible.

It'll be interesting to see if we get enough people subscribing to get a decent review pool. If the choices are "ultra-hardcore Trekkie who signed up just for Discovery" and "journalist who doesn't otherwise watch Sci-Fi", the reviews might end up slightly schizophrenic.

All in all, I think we're doomed no matter what. Either it'll be really good and get cancelled because nobody buys CBS's crappy streaming service, or it'll be really bad and get cancelled because nobody buys CBS's crappy streaming service. Either way, the show seems hosed.

[Olinser]

It'll probably depend on how the story is framed. For example, Jack O'Neill is not the head of Stargate Command. He's not even the head of the Stargate expedtion teams - he's the head of one team. The person with final command authority is General Hammond. O'Neill gets to make a lot of decisions by virtue of most of the excitement taking place on missions to other planets. Even so, there's plenty of drama gained by having him disagree with Hammond on issues where the're multiple valid responses.

I think that would be harder to do with the First Officer of a naval ship, but certainly not impossible.

It'll be interesting to see if we get enough people subscribing to get a decent review pool. If the choices are "ultra-hardcore Trekkie who signed up just for Discovery" and "journalist who doesn't otherwise watch Sci-Fi", the reviews might end up slightly schizophrenic.

All in all, I think we're doomed no matter what. Either it'll be really good and get cancelled because nobody buys CBS's crappy streaming service, or it'll be really bad and get cancelled because nobody buys CBS's crappy streaming service. Either way, the show seems hosed.

Sure, but at the same time by the very nature of O'Neill's mission, he is in charge and in authority for basically EVERY away mission. Since Hammond never actually leaves Earth, O'Neill is almost always the senior officer and is completely out of contact with Hammond basically any time he is off world, and empowered to make decisions and take actions on his own authority (to a point, of course).

That simply doesn't work with a First Officer. The Captain is the one in charge, and on any away mission the Captain is just a communicator flick away. For the First Officer to make meaningful decisions is going to require increasingly implausible reasons why the Captain isn't around or can't be contacted. And if that's what you want them to do, why are you not just making them the Captain in the first place?

It just smacks of, "Every other series had a Captain and we don't want a Captain", rather than actually writing a storyline and characters and then deciding they work better as First Officer.

[Rodin]

Sure, but at the same time the very nature of O'Neill's mission, he is in charge and in authority for basically EVERY away mission. Since Hammond never actually leaves Earth, O'Neill is almost always the senior officer and is completely out of contact with Hammond basically any time he is off world, and empowered to make decisions and take actions on his own authority (to a point, of course).

That simply doesn't work with a First Officer. The Captain is the one in charge, and on any away mission the Captain is just a communicator flick away. For the First Officer to make meaningful decisions is going to require increasingly implausible reasons why the Captain isn't around or can't be contacted. And if that's what you want them to do, why are you not just making them the Captain in the first place?

It just smacks of, "Every other series had a Captain and we don't want a Captain", rather than actually writing a storyline and characters and then deciding they work better as First Officer.

This did get me thinking about how weird it is to say "this is the main character" in the first place.

From previous shows, sure. It's Kirk's ship, it's Picard's ship, etc.

But look at the good recent Sci-Fi/Fantasy shows. Who is the main character of Westworld? The Expanse? Man in the High Castle? Game of Thrones?

They all have numerous "main" characters that we follow in a very different way from the core casts of the older Trek shows (as well as the likes of Babylon 5). They get equal screentime and the focus is more on where the story goes than saying "this is a Troi episode".

I wonder if they've learned how to do modern storytelling, or whether they're going to attempt to throwback to oldschool Trek. Will the First Officer be on every away mission because the main character must do everything? Or will we get a proper ensemble cast?

[Rogar Demonblud]

Most likely how this is going to fall out is I'm going to wait for a full season to be done, subscribe for 1 month, watch the show, cancel the subscription, and wait for the next season.

Actually, all you need to do is use the free trial period, binge everything, and wait until you qualify for another.

As towards the other thing, well, the primary duty of the XO is dealing with the crew. Previous Treks have really ignored all of the administrative stuff. Can you imagine the potential of an episode dealing with not just shore leave, but cleaning up afterwards? Crewpersons A, B, and C are brigged by the locals for drunk and disorderly, and Engineer D through some guy hitting on their date through a window, and Ensign E reported for duty wearing a hula skirt and nothing else, etc, and the XO has to try and deal with it all without impinging on the Captain's time.

[Darth Ultron]

So to make the First Officer the main character is almost certainly going to result in an absurd number of stupid forced 'Captain isn't around/injured, I'M in charge' episodes and situations.

Its just totally unnecessary and really demonstrates they're more interested in being 'DIFFERENT' than actually writing a good story.

I would humbly suggest that this could be done well, as I can think of a couple ways, but I very much agree it is a horrible idea as very few people and writers can do it. So, you will get a lot of ''oh the captain is sleeping'' or something dumb like that.

The first way it could be done, is with an lazy captain. The type of captain that shows up from time to time and just says ''whatever''. Then the first officer can step up and be in command.

A weak captain might work. One that just ''got promoted'' but ''can't do the job'', so they just lean on the first officer for everything. It would be a nice twist to keep this from the crew. And you can have fun with this too.

The evil captain would be my favorite: make the captain the villain. They would need to be subtle and piloting, but it could be lots of fun. And while the captain does evil plots, he would distract the crew with ''oh go save them people, all life is precious." You could really get a lot out of ''is the captain really evil or does he just have an unique style''.

But to just do the ''oh the captain stays on the ship'' and ''the first officer does everything'' with like no common sense, just won't work.

It'll probably depend on how the story is framed. For example, Jack O'Neill is not the head of Stargate Command. He's not even the head of the Stargate expedtion teams - he's the head of one team. The person with final command authority is General Hammond. O'Neill gets to make a lot of decisions by virtue of most of the excitement taking place on missions to other planets.

The trick is Stargate travel isolates the Away Team from Earth, you can't have that with just a ship in orbit. If SG-1 gets into trouble, they have to make it to the gate to call for help....but a Trek away team can just call the ship from anywhere. And sure they can loose their communicators or be in a radio dead zone....but not all the time.

There is a huge difference between ''Stargate Command '' being in orbit and on the other side of the galaxy.

Plus when the ''Stargate Command '' ship does anything exciting/interesting/dangerous, the captain will be in command, not the first officer. The captain won't say ''number one, go fight them Klingons, I'll be reading a holo novel''.

[russdm]

As soon as it was mentioned that Game of Thrones had been an influence, I knew that it wouldn't be any good. For a Star Trek Series, Game of Thrones is not the right place to draw for influence. I can get using Game of Thrones to influence a Star Wars story, but for Star Trek? Were the developers drunk? I can't think of any real shows that would be more the polar opposite of Star Trek than Game of Thrones. If they were going for character arcs/etc, why not just say that they were to focus on the character arcs as part of it.

What does Game of Thrones even have that you would want to port into a Star Trek show? The nudity? The Brutality? The Cruelty? The fact that Game of Thrones present a view of people completely opposed to how Star Trek tried to view us humans?

This will wreck Star Trek badly. The only place Game of Thrones can apply is maybe Klingon politics, but still, Game of Thrones as influence? Why is that considered acceptable?

[Olinser]

As soon as it was mentioned that Game of Thrones had been an influence, I knew that it wouldn't be any good. For a Star Trek Series, Game of Thrones is not the right place to draw for influence. I can get using Game of Thrones to influence a Star Wars story, but for Star Trek? Were the developers drunk? I can't think of any real shows that would be more the polar opposite of Star Trek than Game of Thrones. If they were going for character arcs/etc, why not just say that they were to focus on the character arcs as part of it.

What does Game of Thrones even have that you would want to port into a Star Trek show? The nudity? The Brutality? The Cruelty? The fact that Game of Thrones present a view of people completely opposed to how Star Trek tried to view us humans?

This will wreck Star Trek badly. The only place Game of Thrones can apply is maybe Klingon politics, but still, Game of Thrones as influence? Why is that considered acceptable?

Because they don't care about the property. Game of Thrones is TEH POPULARZ right now, so they want Game of Thrones IN SPACE!!!!

So instead of writing Star Trek stories they're going to write a Game of Thrones storyline and slap Star Trek names on it. Because that's worked out so well every time they've done it with other properties.

Yeah, if that's true that just puts the nail in the coffin for me, I have zero confidence this series is going to do anything other than flop, I just hope it doesn't kill the franchise.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Now see, I'd argue they effectively killed the franchise as far as television is concerned when they gave control of Enterprise back to the Killer Bs.