Before the New York PaleyFest Star Trek: Discovery panel (see report), TrekMovie had a chance to speak with executive producer Akiva Goldsman about incorporating horror into the show and why Discovery has a TVMA rating. We also got a production update on the first season. The full video interview and highlights are below.
Season 1 has two mini-arcs
Last week we reported that CBS had changed plans and moved the ninth episode of Discovery from January to November to wrap up the first part of season one. Goldsman explained the reasoning behind this change.
It is actually just a function of how the storytelling laid out. CBS started calling them two “sweeps”…There is this sort of meta-arc, which is the war with the Klingons, but within that meta-arc there are two mini meta-arcs, or micro-arcs. So the first sweep of those just naturally fell out in [episode] 9, so we moved it. No more or less mysterious, sadly.
The first season of Discovery is broken into to two “mini-arcs”
Incorporating horror and other genres, and why Discovery is TV-MA
Goldsman directed episode 3 (“Context Is for Kings”), which incorporated elements of horror. He told TrekMovie this choice was part of what he sees as a history of Star Trek dipping into different genres:
The episodes all have their own tonal components that are driven by script. For me, episode 3 was mysterious and threatening because I felt Burnham’s circumstance was mysterious and threatening…What is great about science fiction and Star Trek is under the rubric of these flights of speculative fancy, you can find other genres. You can go back to “The Trouble with Tribbles,” or “A Piece of the Action,” or “The Corbomite Maneuver,” or “Naked Time” and you see real tonal differences. You can find the emotional tonality that is appropriate for the story. [Episode 3] was particular threatening, so I felt like going with horror because it was fun.
Responding to why Discovery is rated as a TV-MA show, Goldsman said that was mostly due to the extremes and in general they wanted the show to be family-friendly, saying:
It is TV-MA because it is rated for that which is most potentially challenging for a family. We are pretty dedicated to being able to watch the show with our families. Having said that, in [“Context Is for Kings”] we had some swirled up bodies. They were not entirely palatable to my ten-year-old daughter. So, it is those kind of reasons.
We are very thrilled about the new boundaries that are offered to us by streaming, but not because we can do a lot of sex and violence. It is because we can do more serialized storytelling. We can do deeper, more emotional stories. On occasion if those take us into territory that feels a little bit more risky than would typically be seen on network TV, we just stamp it [with TV-MA]. It is always stamped for the most extreme. It is Star Trek, so for us that means we want to be able to have your whole family talking about it after.
Shot of mangled corpse from “Context Is for Kings”
Almost a wrap
Goldsman also revealed he is directing the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery and that after an extended weekend the show was “one day off of completing principal photography.” [Editor’s NOTE: Since this interview was conducted over the weekend, word has come that Discovery may wrap today.]
More from PaleyFest
Jason Isaacs Needed To Know Everything About Lorca Before Starting ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
Mary Wiseman On How Tilly Is Revealed As Best Theoretical Engineer On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
TrekMovie has more interviews with the Discovery cast from PaleyFest NY 2017. These will be posted over the next few days so stay tuned.
Star Trek: Discovery is available exclusive in the US on CBS All Access with new episodes released Sundays at 8:30 pm ET. In Canada Star Trek: Discovery airs on the Space Channel at the same time. Discovery is available on Netflix outside the USA and Canada with new episodes made available Monday at 8 am BST.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.
Tone has been spot on so far. TOS frequently dabbled in the horror genre. Heck, even Robert Bloch wrote an episode!
Absolutely loving having weekly Trek again after so many years.
Bloch actually wrote three episodes. Aside from those working on staff, that’s the most by any single writer.
Some people wanted to jump to conclusions about the TVMA but this is what I expected. It’s like if Voyager had been more visual with the mass of mutilated Borg bodies that Species 8472 left behind, it could be the same issue. That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw those mangled bodies on the Glenn.
But those “mangled bodies” aren’t any worse than some of the stuff you can see on Gotham or Stranger Things, both rated TV-14!
Yes, I’ve jumped to conclusions and I’ll continue to do so, because this is not a convincing explanation for a TV-MA rating. I’m not American but I’ve followed many TV-14 and TV-MA shows (mostly rated 16+ in Germany anyway), but there is a difference you can feel…
A show like Gotham, Arrow or Stranger Things has its gross moments, but after all, it’s suitable for teens DESPITE the silly German 16+ rating. They should be 14+ anywhere…
But shows like GOT and TWD, Spartacus or Punisher are entirely different beasts. Yeah, they are watched by younger teenagers as well, which I feel VERY bad about and there’s nothing I could do about it, but these shows feel for like 21+ to me… those shows, despite their redeeming qualities, these shows just don’t feel right…
I don’t want Star Trek to join THAT club of nasty entertainment.
Stranger Things isn’t TV-MA? Holy.
“nasty entertainment” get out of here, grow a spine. I think young teenagers should watch GOT. They’re gonna be adults one day. If they can appreciate the entertainment, let them.
“I think young teenagers should watch GOT.”
It’s your prerogative to think that. I wish I could think the same. If it was rated 12+ or 14+ in my place, I’d embrace these changes.
But the show is rated 16+ and it’s my freakin’ job to “advertise” and uphold that system (which I hate). This is exactly what’s driving me crazy… Having these ratings while not being able to implement them…
Either these youth protection rules are important. Then access to smartphones and computers should be 16+, with severe
Or these ratings are not important enough. Then they have to be abolished ASAP.
But as long as there are strict rating systems AND unlimited access to “adult” entertainment at the same time, canceling each other out, I lose valuable sleep over it every single night.
Ratings and real-life viewing habits are completely incompatible with one another. And thise cause the ultimate schizophrenia within me. The are two entirely different “realities” out there… real-life viewing habits vs. ratings… One of these has to be wrong, one of these has to be abolished… as long as there are two of them… I’m profoundly shaken and confused…
You know, the funny thing is that I’ve actually contacted politicians and authorities on that issue because I want them to liberalize the rating system. Only that way, the discrepancies between those laws and actual viewing habits could be decreased to an acceptable deviation. I want GOT or DSC to be rated 14+ or lower, but as long as it’s not the case, I’m disturbed by these transgressions on part of these kids and parents. Because rating authorities and teens / parents cannot be both right at the same time! It’s that easy and that complicated!
Space is a dark place and sometimes seeing the darkness is what inspires us to do the right thing in real life. Such as torturing Ripper to work the drive. So far we are nowhere near GOT and its dumb to compare DSC to TWD or GOT. If there’s death on DSC it serves a story telling purpose.
Sex seems to get a higher rating than violence, sadly. However, I would not want my under-16 kids (if I had any), watching GoT… I mean, it would depend. 14? Maybe, if they were really mature.
Context matters. Fellow Canadians of a certain age might remember a great series called Degrassi (the original) that contained two incidents of the F Bomb in prime time on the public broadcasting network and some mild nudity.
“Sex seems to get a higher rating than violence, sadly.”
In America, maybe. Not in Germany.
GoT is rated 16+, TWD is rated 18+…
They even gave Blade Runner 2049 a 12+ rating despite all the nudity while PG-13 Ghost in the Shell was rated 16+
I’m not saying this is all fine. I have my issues with both sorts of boundary pushing, but primarly with a combination of both.
“However, I would not want my under-16 kids (if I had any), watching GoT…”
The problem is that they are already watching! And that’s my loop hole I’m caught in. As long as there is unlimited cellphone or computer access for minors, the strictest rating system is pointless. One of these two issues has to be done away with.
So let me get this straight: Goldsman is worried about his ten-year-old daughter and that’s why the show had to be TV-MA???
Why not make it TV-14 instead? Gotham and Stranger Things are TV-14, and they’re not suitable for his ten-year-old girl either. But why TV-MA??? Worse than NuBSG, on par with GOT or TWD? I don’t get it. This “explanation” stinks.
14-year-olds can deal with “swirled up bodies” or Landry’s injuries, which were about the same as Scotty’s nephew in TWOK (rated PG at that time fore lack of a PG-13 rating).
Nope, I certainly smell a rat here. They certainly got more of these atrocities in store, gross imagery will increase exponentially at some point, because otherwise, a TV-14 rating would have sufficed…
For Pete’s sake. There was a Trek movie marathon here before Discovery’s premiere — and there was a “mature themes/violence” warning before Star Trek V.
It doesn’t necessarily mean sex and nudity, although it can.
I also suspect there’s some marketing involved — they’re trying to attract prestige series viewers (and teenagers).
Smike, you’re almost 40. Get over it already. And as he said it was just to cover their tracks basically. But four episodes in and the TV-MA label proves people were over reacting as they usually do on the internet.
“Smike, you’re almost 40. Get over it already.”
Being 37, or 42 one day doesn’t really take away any second thoughts about those developments. On the contrary. The older I get, the more I question what “mature” and “adult” is supposed to mean in the first place.
I had a rough start at the age of 17 because I wasn’t prepared for watching stuff like From Dusk Till Dawn, John Carpenter’s Vampire or Species II back then. But around 21, I was just fine with harder stuff. I used to be fine with almost everything until about 9 months ago, when all these quibbles, tribulations and second thoughts about R-Rated / Unrated / TV-MA started. But now, as much as I wish to, I cannot simply get “over it”… I wish I was able to turn back the clock one year and start from scratch, before I began questioning the entire world of speculative on-screen fiction, including my second home Star Trek. But these thoughts are now an integral part of me and I contemplate about that night and day, 24/7…
Then Smike, there is another option, one I have given you time and time again and amazingly when I never hear an in-depth response from you: simply don’t watch the show then.
My point is, and this is important for you to get, some of us actually LIKE more mature content and its perfectly fine for CBS (who now has a medium who can present it) to air that content. In other words, this is a plus for some of us. I don’t mind an actual adult show. You do, we alllll got the memo by now.
So if you can’t get over it, fine, then the second option is to simply avoid the show, right? I mean funny how you never seem to mention the second option. I’m not trying to be mean about it but seriously what other option is there if you keep harping on it and say you can never get over it? Well then simply avoid the show, problem solved.
Maybe there is something I’ve missed studying your rating system in countless sleepless nights over the last couple of weeks and months.
Maybe – correct me if I’m wrong – it’s the fact that both TV-14 / PG 13 ratings as well as TV-MA / R ratings are more or less optional warnings for cautious parents in your place, totally unlike the set-in-stone laws we got in Germany that even prevents parents from taking their teenage kids to 16+ movies (many of them actually being PG-13 in your place!)
If so, that might explain these inconsistencies to some extend.
“The Expanse” had me puzzled. It’s given as TV-14 on IMDB, but had a TV-MA sticker on the US Blu-Ray. Maybe that show is the one that could restore hope within myself that DSC may be not that gross after all. But that’s a huge maybe.
Again, while I consider some TV-14 shows tough stuff for the young ones, most TV-MA shows feel like notorious boundary-pushing for the sake of it. TV-14, that’s “gross but still okay”, but TV-MA, that’s borderline atrocious… stuff that cannot be good for adults either.
Um, it’s not your call to decide whether TV-MA rated material is good for adults or not. So let’s not go down that rabbit hole.
You’ve lost countless nights/weeks/months of sleep over the rating, but it isn’t going to change. Might I suggest you simply cut your losses and not watch? A TV rating is not worth all this.
“Might I suggest you simply cut your losses and not watch? A TV rating is not worth all this.”
Your suggestion is noted but not appreciated. Not watching newly available Star Trek would feel like not being able to live anymore. I have to suffer through all of this, even if it eats me up from the inside out.
A TV or movie rating, be it American, German or British, seems to be unimportant, but what it stands for is what matters. The mere increase in so-called “adult-oriented” or “mature premium” stuff is so incredible because…
– there is no way of keeping it from younger viewers anyway
– most of the stuff isn’t mature but voyeurism appealing to lowest instincts of their paying viewers
– no longer kept below the radar of mainstream mass entertainment as it used to be last century
“Um, it’s not your call to decide whether TV-MA rated material is good for adults or not.”
Right, I can’t make decision for other people but how I THINK and FEEL about certain series and franchises being watched by far to many people is entirely up to me. I can’t change these thoughts anyway, even if I want to. Believe me, I’ve tried. My bad conscience for being a geek in the first place has full control over my reasoning. I wish it was any different.
Smike, again, you’re almost 40. This is what being an adult is. If the show offends your sensibilities this much then you have to be the grown up and decide not to watch based on your own preference. But if you don’t get the hint by now, most of us are feel you are just whining at this point. The show is mature rated, you have said your peach about it over and over again. CBS is not going to change it over one hang up from some guy in Germany. You have the choice to decide the show could be too sexually graphic for you or whatever and not watch it.
But since you have made it clear YOU will watch no matter what, then stop whining about it. Accept this is what it is. No one is saying you can’t stop feeling how you do but everyone has gotten the memo. But since you are going to watch it anyway, then moaning about how hard it is to see someone naked comes off hypocritical if you still watch it regardless.
Yeah seriously, why don’t you just go watch shows with unicorns and rainbows in them, or nonsense like Dancing With The Stars if adult-themed shows upset you so much?
And you think shows like GOT and TWD should be 21+? So someone 18 years old can go experience the horrors of real-life war but not be allowed to watch a fictional zombie show?
I agree with Ad, Smike. Maybe you should stop losing sleep over television ratings and select a much more tame source of entertainment.
“So someone 18 years old can go experience the horrors of real-life war but not be allowed to watch a fictional zombie show?”
Sad enough, I live in a place were more than 70 movies are still entirely banned even from being sold to adults, among those being many horror classics from Italy and France. I have opposed these censorship laws for two decades. If they ever “free” those movies, I guess it would take a 21+ rating (which doesn’t exist yet). At the moment, even 37-year-olds are not allowed to acquire these movies. No, but TWD isn’t on that list… still, I feel it’s 21+ material, sadly watched by 13-year-olds these days. Both feels wrong to me…
Wow, that is simply stunning, Smike. Was not aware that extent of limitation on what you can watch even existed.
I believe we are the last country in the Western hemisphere with such outdated limitations. There used to be similar laws in other European countries. The UK had its “video nasty” list, Sweden also had strict laws. Now Sweden has 15+ as its maximum rating and the UK has most stuff available uncut 18+.
But with Germany, it’s stone-cold crazy. There are basically three 18+ ratings.
The “normal” 18+ stuff is freely available in stores but you cannot even order online unless you are able to personally receive the package the next day.
Those movies that don’t get a 18+ rating are put on an index and are not to be sold publicly, not advertised etc. There are 400+ movies on that index, but recently lots of calssics have been rehabilitated and are now rated 16+ or 18+. We used to have Starship Troopers, Hellraiser or Nightmare on Elm Street on that index!
And then, there is the banning law called “confiscation on a federal level under §131″… Those movies may not be sold to adults, they may to even be reviewed by domestic media…I cannot even legally give them to a fellow adult for free. It’s totally crazy!
Aginst that backdrop, a 21+ rating to free those movies would be more than welcome.
In reality none of that actually matters because of the internet, but the moral stigmatization of these highest ratings in tremendous.
Among those confiscated movies are classics such as Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. Until about a year ago, The Evil Dead was banned as well. Anything with zombies used to be stigmatized severely in Germany. It’s no longer the case with recent productions, that normally get a 16+ or 18+ rating. TWD is 18+ and entirely legal.
CBS was never going to turn Discovery into Game of Thrones. There won’t be orgies. There will likely be some more mild gore, some intensity (the Klingons ate the captain) and some occasional adult language. And war is a pretty adult theme. All solidly appropriate for Star Trek.
As far as I can tell, the TV ratings are decided by the network, unlike movie ratings where an MPAA panel decides.
And there has been controversy over MPAA ratings. Billy Elliot was rated R because of language. Star Trek VI had to reportedly make the Klingon blood pink to keep a PG-13 (or was it PG) rating.
Supposedly, the powers that be wanted to show Persis Khambata’s breasts in TMP (the ‘70s) and it was kiboshed for ratings reasons.
I think the (suprisingly entertaining) Netflix sitcom The Ranch is TV-MA (there’s the occasional F-bomb, and Ashton Kutcher showed his butt once) and so is (the even more entertaining) Grace and Frankie (language/themes). Both are shows I’d let a teen, or my parents, watch.
And don’t get me started on (some pretty great) BBC shows, where there’s language and plenty of nudity.
So, no, I don’t think we’ll be seeing gay orgies, full frontal nudity or Burnham talking like Samuel L. Jackson anytime soon.
So get some sleep, Smike. And enjoy the show.
“As far as I can tell, the TV ratings are decided by the network, unlike movie ratings where an MPAA panel decides.”
That’s great and worrisome at the same time. If the network can decide how to rate it, why chose the higher rating, thereby increasing the level of discrepancy between the rating and actual viewing habits?
If I had a say in that, I would make 15+ the highest rating available in my country. It has been done in Sweden. France has an even more liberal rating system, with most horror rated 12+. But unfortunately, I’m neither French nor Swedish but I have to live in my god-awful country that doesn’t even grant parents the right to take their kids to 16+ (let alone 18+ movies).
Of course you may say that none of this matters because the kids can access anything online anyway. But that thought makes it even worse. Because despite the fact I hate our strict rating system, the one thing I hate even more are illegal transgressions on minors’ part. Thus I feel bad about both the rating authorities and the kids violating these rules. And I feel bad about movies and TV shows that made these higher ratings “necessary” in the first place.
If those rules were gone, I’d be happy to enjoy GOT, TWD or DSC to the fullest. But at the moment I cannot even enjoy life itself…
@smike: ” But at the moment I cannot even enjoy life itself…” Please don’t take this the wrong way but when I read things like this in someone’s post I get very worried. Are you okay? You should not feel that you cannot enjoy life. If you are having issues please find someone who can help you. Suffering is not a solution.
“Your suggestion is noted but not appreciated. Not watching newly available Star Trek would feel like not being able to live anymore. I have to suffer through all of this, even if it eats me up from the inside out.”
This made me feel very, very sad and worried for you. A television series- no matter how much you love it- should make you feel this way. It’s deeply unhealthy.
Please do let us know that you are okay. And to echo @Something New- I would advise getting some help if this is how bad it has gotten for you.
“A television series- no matter how much you love it- should make you feel this way.”
It is not just THIS television show. Trek is “only” the most important one and one more proof for that unstoppable development that has propelled adult entertainment from its isolated, well-protected niche existence in the late 20th century, to mainstream mass appeal for people of all ages recently.
TV-MA / R-Ratings are about to become the new “PG” and since youth protection and age control virtually do not exist anymore due to smartphones and online access, each and every adult-oriented production automatically becomes all-age entertainment. Either parents willingly play along or kids find their own ways to watch. Some people even take great pride in letting them watch what they want, further fueling the irrelevance of age certificates, while at the same time, these ratings are still regarded as an obligatory legal mandate by those upholding them – at least in my country.
And this level of deviation between well-intended law and the reality of viewing habits does indeed bother me 24/7. It makes me feel personally guilty for having supported such genres. Seeing tweens in GOT shirts is giving me serious worries. Lowering the ratings would ease some of my pain but of course it could also worsen things.
Although I’m well above legal age, I cannot enjoy this anymore without second thoughts because I know the kids are watching too, against all legal boundaries which are based on the assumption that stuff’s not good for them.
This has me constantly asking how something that’s legally not suitable for 13- or 15-year-olds can be good for adults, while at the same time it is watched by 11-year-olds in ever-growing numbers.
And now, hands down, Trek is part of that story. It has “evolved”, adapted those modern-day “sensibility” or “premium” adult entertainment. Not even Star Trek was safe… What’s next? Star Wars? Harry Potter?
You okay, Smike? I’m worried.
“Are you okay? You should not feel that you cannot enjoy life.”
I know it’s sorta stupid to take these issues so seriously but that’s just the way I feel about the current state of genre TV and cinema.
Watching sci fi and fantasy, especially Trek, has been my main focus since I was 12 and for the last 25 years, I has worked for me pretty well. Not even the cancellation of ENT and the mainstream reboot of the movie series had that sort of impact on me.
I also enjoyed harder stuff in the horror and action genre as long as it used to be a niche “guilty pleasure” far below the radar of mainstream attention.
But the rise of R-Rated movies such as Deadpool, Logan or It and TV-MA shows such as GOT or TWD to mainstream success has changed that. Now it seems as if almost everything the genre has to offer is getting darker, grittier, more violent and gross, with the creative minds behin it taking great pride in boundary-pushing.
And while it’s officially illegal, these movies and shows are watched by tweens and young teens who do not even realize anymore that the stuff they’re watching is “adult” entertainment. It has become the random standard for them and since there is no working age control in the internet, no one can stop them anyway.
I don’t know what bothers me more: them watching stuff they’re not supposed to or them not even realizing their own transgressions. I cannot even blame them: lots of adults think it’s fine if they watch. They’re selling Chucky costumes for kids, there is photo-realistic pro Zombie make-up for Halloween… all in good fun…
But IF we cannot change THAT they are watching that stuff, it comes down to two options:
– lowering the ratings in order to legalize their transgressions would at least ease the formal dilemma of having to observe illegal behavior on such a grand scale
– appealing to dignity and good taste on the producers’ part against the backdrop that none of this is adult-exclusive anymore, might restore some balance to the state of TV and cinema as a whole – although it’s naive to ask them to cut back on violence for moral reasons when milking that cash cow is so much easier.
It’s so complicated and it bothers a lot. And since genre media is such an important part of my life and self-perception, I feel so helpless on a personal level. And that may come off strange for you.
“Suffering is not a solution.”
Well, according to next week’s episode, the only thing I can do is “Choose my Pain” now… And since the writer’s Pen Cares Not for the Fan’s Cry, all I can do is trying to dwelling on superior context, which is for kings, instead of feeling heart-broken about individual aspects and ratings.
Maybe I should row my boating gently down the river Lethe, where there is magic to drive the sanes man mad, there to go into the forest of insanity. Course: Oblivion is Bliss after all.
“but when I read things like this in someone’s post I get very worried. Are you okay?”
Well, am I okay?
Stephen King, whose trademark is portraying tender kids and teens as either killers or victims, is more popular than ever.
Mark Millar just got his Netflix superdeal and is about to set up the darkest comic-book based multiverse yet.
There are up to five GOT spin-offs in the making, plus Martin’s Nightflyers around the corner.
For every Blood Drive being canceled, there is a Happy! to pop up.
And last but not least, Quentin Tarantino wants to make a Star Trek movie.
Am I okay? How can I be okay?
I refuse to watch Star Trek Discovery. Making it a CBS all access is a soccer punch to all Star Trek Fans out there.
Then why do you bother to read the articles and comment?
But you’ll keep typing about it to let the rest of us know countless times. Thanks?
I’ve been a Star Trek fan since literally as long as I can remember, so circa 1977. And I don’t take it as a punch (soccer, sucker, or otherwise). I look at it as an opportunity to use my dollars — and only a few of them per month — to help vote to have Star Trek in the world.
I’m not hugely thrilled with the series yet, but it’ll have to get a lot worse for them to lose me as a subscriber.
Agreed. My $$ to have Star Trek back so that those that don’t know ST…will know it.
Are you a Marvel fan? You must have felt the same way when they put some of their TV shows on Netflix. I suppose HBO could have put GoT on TBS too instead of charging a premium to see it on HBO.
No I am not. I could care less where they put there shows.
Then don’t keep commenting about how you refuse to watch it. It’s as simple as that.
AdAstraPerApera: “don’t keep commenting about how you refuse to watch it”. Umm excuse me? This the first time I have ever commented on it.
Tiger2: I hardly consider 1 comment as “countless times”.
I have a right to my opinion as everyone else here does. Also if I spend my dollar on a show that says Star Trek, it better be Star Trek. I apologize for being snippy, but if you are going to claim I did something, I would appreciate if your claims where accurate.
No-one cares.
Seriously… who cares? PG… PG14… MA… it makes no difference to me. I could care less about the rating on it. People are way too sensitive these days. My 8 and 12 year old daughters watch with me. I have no problem with that.
“People are way too sensitive these days.”
On the contrary. Most people are way too insensitive these days. Now, I am all about lowering or even abolishing the rating system, but as long as it stands, it’s the freakin’ law.
I know, the American system is a lot more parent-friendly and you dont have any supersized rating lables stigmatizing DVDs and Blu-Rays. You may be legally allowed to let your daughters watch. But if I had kids of that age, I would NOT be allowed to take them… let’s say… Stephen King’s It. And letting them watch stuff at home – while not entirely illegal – would be regarded as morally ambiguous as long as there are these forsaken ratings…
The French and the people in Quebec don’t have these issues but I’ll probably never enjoy the freedom of being fine with an 11-year-old wearing a GOT shirt at school without having to punish him for that. Gosh, do I hate my situation… As long as this show is 16+, my boss has every right to ban these shirts… Okay, I’m straying off topic… Sorry!
We have ratings labels, Smike. And theatres here won’t let 12-year-olds into Stephen King’s It.
Thats what Smike doesn’t get. Theaters already don’t let kids in to see movies like that, BUT they leave it up to the parents to decide if its OK to take them or not. Thats the way it should work. If you’re a parent who doesn’t think their kid should see something like that, then yeah don’t take them.
And all this stuff is really a losing battle thanks to the internet. You can’t see It in theaters but you can download it for free on your phone if you are a 14 year who really wants to see it but your parents won’t take you. The rating system can only do so much these days. If kids want to see something they are not suppose to they will eventually. If they can find ways to smoke, drink and have sex at 13, seeing an R rated movie or show isn’t going to exactly be that hard.
Awesome new series…congratulations to us all
The mirror universe, TV-MA, You are not prepared.
I’m afraid you’re right about that. I’m absolutely not prepared for what they are going to unleash at us in that mirror universe episode. Thematically, the mirror universe has always been grim and gross, but now, they are able to graphically exploit those issues and honestly, I just don’t want to go there…
Based on the episodes we’ve seen so far, and the recommendation of Number One, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Color me excited!
Yeah Kira was bisexual nympho in the MU. I can only imagine what THIS version would be like lol.
Mr Goldsman must not keep abreast of how modern tv shows are handled if he thinks streaming allows them to do more serialized storytelling. It seems every drama on over the air tv and cable are heavily serialized.
He seems out of touch with reality.
They’re trying to sell the streaming/all-access decision.
It makes them less reliant on the week to week shifts in viewership. There is no pressure to make episodes watchable “cold” for future syndication.
We realize you dont believe in Streaming, but what do you expect him to say?
I have seen two episodes, this past Sunday I could not watch ST. But as I look on internet to catch what I missed….I find that I am confused.,,,..I read the description for episodes 2 – 3 , st seems that I either saw episode 2 as my first episode or , well don’t know, confused, ? I want to order to watch in sequence…..any ideas ?
As an avid Star Trek fan, I have to say that Discovery sucks! I don’t like the cast at all, the ship is ugly, the Klingons look like turtles, and the whole show just doesn’t feel right in any way.I just found out Akiva Goldsman is involved in this series, that explains a lot right there. This might be an interesting series if it wasn’t pretending to be Star Trek. Sorry guys unless you come up with a rating that warns the viewer how much this show fails in every way, it really doesn’t matter what you rate it! It’s ok with me that they are ripping people off by making people subscribe to a special channel to see it, Im glad to not be subjected to this travesty on regular TV.And enough of the “mirror universe” theory, it’s just a cop out to make whatever changes they want! Akiva Goldsman, please stay away from our beloved science fiction shows, you are no Gene Roddenberry or Irwin Allen!
I don’t love it yet (although I liked the first two episodes). I’m hoping it gets better.
Is Bryan Fuller still silent on it? I’d seen nothing on it in his Twitter feed, but I haven’t looked in a while.