Two panels that were very popular at Star Trek Las Vegas featured Star Trek: Discovery season two stars Anson Mount (Pike) and Ethan Peck (Spock). Both talked about their time on Discovery and their upcoming episodes of Short Treks. Anson Mount also discussed the idea of returning to lead a new show set on Pike’s Enterprise.
Anson Mount would love to do a Pike series
During his time on stage at Star Trek Las Vegas, the moderator discussed how many fans have been calling for Anson Mount to return to the role of Pike for a new series set on the USS Enterprise. At first the actor teased the audience, saying “I do have an announcement to make. There is coffee available towards the back of the hall.” But then he got serious, talking about the fan feedback:
Look, I have never had a response to anything I have ever done like this. It’s overwhelming. I didn’t expect it. I’m not sure it’s entirely deserved…The writers may have had something to do with it. First of all, thank you. It feels great to be appreciated for what you do, particularly with this fanbase, this family.
As for the idea of doing a show set on the Enterprise with Ethan Peck as Spock and Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Mount indicated he was up for it:
Obviously, it’s something I would love to do. It was never on my bucket list because I never thought it is something that could be on my bucket list. It would be wonderful. I love the franchise. I love these people.
The veteran actor added some context, making it clear his willingness to do the show is just one of the factors needed to make it happen:
We will see. There are a lot of things going on at that network right now, and within the franchise. And these decisions have to deal with many, many things that float above my pay grade or even outside my realm of knowledge. I am about up-to-date as you guys.
Later in the program during the Q&A, when a fan asked if he was prepared “to work for seven seasons” on a possible Star Trek show, Mount replied:
From your mouth to CBS’ ears.
We do know that CBS’ ears have heard the call for a Pike series. Two weeks ago at SDCC, executive producer Alex Kurtzman actually brought up the notion, asking if the Hall H fans would like to see such a show, and adding with a smile, “We’ll think about it.”
Anson Mount talks Captain Pike at STLV19
Mount and Peck preview their Short Treks
While we wait to find out if Pike’s Enterprise will get its own show, we do know it will be featured in three of the six upcoming episodes of Star Trek: Short Treks. Anson Mount says he jumped at the chance to return when asked by Kurtzman to do “some Enterprise stories.” He also said he enjoyed how they can experiment a bit with tone, compared to Star Trek: Discovery:
That’s one of the things I liked about Pike and the show in general. Adventure and also – as I discovered in westerns – it is easy to get too deliberate sometimes, and you got to play the back floor sometimes. I think you are really going to enjoy them. It’s great material, I can say that.
During his separate panel (where he appeared with James Frain), Ethan Peck also talked about how he was thrilled for a chance to return to the role of Spock:
It was amazing. When I put down the ears, I wasn’t sure I would ever pick them up again. It was such a joy to go back and revisit that character. The second time around, I wasn’t riddled with terror, because I had already done it. I felt so much more freedom in myself as an actor and that was wonderful and more comfortable.
Trying to avoid spoilers, Peck did give a bit of info on his return in Short Treks:
I can’t wait to see them, and I can’t wait for you to see them, because it is going to explore some very cool relationships that I think you will be excited about.
Ethan Peck talks Spock at STLV19
Excitement and magic of filming Discovery S2 finale
The subject of filming the explosive season two finale of Discovery was discussed during both Mount’s and Peck’s panels. Mount talked about he was able to enjoy shooting it, despite how action-packed projects can often be less exciting on set:
The general rule of thumb is: the more exciting a scene is to watch, the more grueling, tedious and boring it is to shoot, because you have to make so many tiny little pieces they are going to stitch together. That was not the case, because we were coming to the end of the season and we were all feeling like “oh, school’s about to be out,” and we were all enjoying each other’s company. And we knew it was going to be an incredible sequence. The hardest part on Star Trek is that so much of what is going on, you are not seeing. They’re telling you and sometimes giving you points to focus on, but you are having to imagine all of this stuff. I didn’t even have it all straight in my head until I saw it, and it is so great to see the CG cut in after all that work. They do such a great job of making it all blend.
During his panel, Ethan Peck talked about how he learned how his time with Spock would arc towards the finale:
I was told about what would happen at the end of the season at a dinner I had with Alex Kurtzman and a bunch of the producers. And he took me through and I remember being almost moved to tears, because this has been such an emotional and incredible journey for me. And I was still in the middle of the season and just to know that I was going to be a part of this sort of soaring narrative that ties it into canon and being a part of that, it was surreal, like living in a dream…I can’t believe I get to be a part of it.
Later, Peck effused enthusiasm talking about filming those final scenes as Spock on the Enterprise:
You see the smile on my face, it was so tremendous. I had known that Spock would end there back on the Enterprise in his science officer’s uniform, clean-shaven, clean bangs. It’s still kind of hard to articulate. It has been so surreal. I think I can spend a lifetime processing the magnitude of Star Trek and Spock. Look at the community it has created and what it means to people. It is really beautiful. I feel very, very lucky. It is a privilege to do this and be here. It was only one say we filmed with the clean-shaven look. The first day I came out on set with that look, people didn’t recognize me. It was fun to surprise everybody and meet everybody again because I had that beard the whole time. It’s hard to put into words. I had felt I had earned my way back onto the Enterprise, not just as Ethan, but as Spock. But to suddenly be him, those last moments it felt like now I am Spock. It was like I was snuck into it, very quietly, and now I was on the Enterprise in my science officer uniform. It was magic. That is hallowed ground.
Ethan Peck as Spock in “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2” from the season 2finale of Star Trek: Discovery Photo Cr: Russ Martin/CBS ©2018 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
More STLV to come
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Anson Mount has a nice way of describing his interest in Trek. So, he’d be happy with a seven year run, eh?
So Canadian, eh?
Mount was born in Illinois. Oh, you mean me?? Well, yes, but even non-Canadians can end a written question that way, non? :>)
“non?”… Yer a wizard ‘arry. That was clever.
A-ha! He’s FRENCH-Canadian.
Ah yes, the best kind of Canadian there is! Oui-oui…
I’d go FRENCH on all you guys, but then I’d have to gargle with Listerine! :>)
Thanks for this Tony!
The Twitter soundbites (everywhere) seem to have missed the feel of Mount’s comments.
It sounds as though there is a lot of foundational work to cover, not only to get Pike’s Enterprise close to an early announcement, but to get S31 though its paces to be greenlit, and The Man Who Fell to Earth into pre-production.
I can also see that there may have been some short term constraints on new Trek announcements given that the integration of Trek is one of the rationales for the merger of CBS and Viacom. It’s not uncommon (during friendly takeovers) to suspend decisions on investments in joint interests during the negotiations and finalization of a merger.
Maybe Anson Mount and Ethan Peck will lead a new movie series.
The Enterprise still features in the movies, but this time follows Pike and Spock and crew. It would certainly be something a bit different.
Please no… No more movies. Most are duds. Even the good ones can’t compare to the best of the series. And you only get to tell one story. With a series you get a good number of stories. you get to go more in-depth in series. I’m not opposed to making movies with casts who have already had a long series. If it’s a great movie, then great! If it tanks, there is still the long series to fall back on. But please let there be no movies INSTEAD of series. Just no.
oh no the movies are great… more more more… well the good ones are wrath of khan and search for spock and voyage home and undiscovered country and first contact and star trek and into darkness and beyond… some are flawed but still worth it like the motion picture and insurrection… maybe nemesis but i find that to be pretty weak with a poor director solid script though from john logan
then bad is star trek 5 but so much fun as a cheesy mst3k watch and generations was a mess with so many bad decisions
Hear Hear, more series, more movies more animated, more Short Treks, MORE TREK IN ALLOF IT’S FORMS!
I would LOVE to see The Voyage Home get the MST3K treatment. My friends and I have done it ourselves some time ago.
thats a good one though… but of course you can make fun of good movies… it’s an intentional comedy though… final frontier is the one to riff… it’s an unintentional comedy lol
Except the point of the MST3K treatment was to do it to BAD movies. Of which The Voyage Home certainly qualifies. It’s why me and my friends did it to TVH and NOT WoK or TUC.
are you mixing up your movies? do you mean final frontier? voyage home is considered one of the best and one of the best reviewed. not sure i’m understanding
No. I mean The Voyage Home deserves the MST3K treatment as not just a bad Star Trek movie, but a bad movie in general. The Final Frontier had flaws and was easily the next worst. But TVH was just plain awful. Poor plot. Poor directing. Actors who suddenly forgot who they were playing. A serious lack of fun for a film that was supposed to be light… The list of problems with it seems endless!
The feature films with their encompassing scores and elaborate title fonts have always been bigger and more mysterious than the episodes. A bad episode you can usually dismiss as never having happened. A feature film version of ST usually sticks with you regardless how it turned out. Back in the early days of TNG when VHS hit its stride, the Big Four were the elusive crown jewels to track down, catch up on and devour one at a time. For when you wanted your Trek to have more oomph than just then a shot of the ship circling yet another planet accompanied by TV narration.
“With a series you get a good number of stories.”
Perhaps 10 years ago that was true. Unless a show is on an over-the-air network it is likely not going to be many stories. Just one longer one.
i’d love that actually but that wouldnt happen in theaters… costs so much to release a movie too risky… but possibly as a lower level set of streaming movies… basically long short treks… long treks :)
this is why the merger is so important!
I know in the 2009 film they established McCoy came on board with Kirk, but in the Prime timeline is there any reason they could not offer Karl Urban the McCoy role to come on board with Pike?
Mount, Peck, Romijn and Urban!
Because Dr. Phillip Boyce is the Doctor
But Tim, Dr. Boyce was also edging to retirement.
We have no canon that says when Boyce left the Enterprise in the Prime Universe or when McCoy joined.
In fact, it would be perfectly within canon for
-Bryce to retire
-an older female CMO to join the crew, or be promoted fron within, AND
-McCoy to join as an Lieutenant assistant CMO.
Just because it hasn’t be seen or mentioned doesn’t mean it’s inconsistent with canon.
TOS only mentioned the history of the ship when it was directly necessary to the episode at hand. People don’t talk about the history of their workplaces unless it’s pertinent. There is a lot that could be filled in.
not sure if mixing timeline actors is a good idea… though with tarantinos trek sounds like he might be using the kelvin cast in a prime timeline but when i think about it that makes it kind of a mess because the relationships and experiences would all be different… but who knows…
My head canon was that Kirk knew McCoy already (hence the established use of the “Bones” nickname.) So it felt reasonable that McCoy was one of Kirk’s hand picked staff when he became captain. Spock was obviously there and I also guessed that given Scotty’s devotion to the Enterprise that he very well was there years and probably became chief engineer when, or perhaps a bit before Kirk was given command. So if anyone was on Pike’s Enterprise, to me at least, it makes most sense that it be Scotty on the Engineering staff.
i guess it all comes down to how kirk got the enterprise… we’ve all seen how he gets it in the 2009 kelvin universe but not in the prime universe
i like head canon
Incorrect remember in “Where No Man Has Gone Before” it was Dr. Boyce that revived Kirk to go after Gary. So Boyce was still on the Enterprise when Kirk was Captain, at least for a bit.
Dr. Piper was CMO after Kirk was captain but before McCoy came aboard. It wouldn’t make sense for McCoy to be Pike’s CMO.
Right, forgot about Piper being CMO in the second pilot.
That doesn’t mean that there couldn’t have been another CMO between Bryce and Piper, nor does it exclude McCoy being on the Enterprise as a more junior physician.
It does make it unlikely that McCoy was the CMO in between the two of them though. I guess he could be a more junior doctor though. I wouldn’t want Urban to play him though. Discovery has already used different actors for Pike, Spock, Sarek, and Amanda than the Abrams movies used. It makes sense to use different casts for each timeline.
I disagree. I think it was a mistake to use 2 different sets of actors for all the young characters. The Kelvin cast may be in a different timeline but they are absolutely still meant to look like younger versions. Look at how Old Spock’s ship still recognized Quinto in 09. And based on McCoy’s age on Memory Alpha, he would have already been 6 years old by the time Nero split the timeline. Pike is likely a similar age. What if they ever decided to do a crossover? How do they justify them looking like completely different people?
The same way different Bonds look like different people. It really doesn’t matter. KU Kirk is Kirk. PU Kirk is Kirk. Discovery Pike is Pike. Superman: The Movie Superman is Superman Returns Superman.
I really believe that the “search for Spock and the mystery of the Red Angel” story line in STD S2 with the inclusion of Captain Pike coming onboard really saved the series.
it’s normal in trek for season 1 to be uneven and building blocks of good characters and the writers trying to figure out what the show is… tng ds9 perfect examples… there’s really nothing unusual here… i dont see season 2 or 3 or 4 as a saving thing for ds9… or season 3 for tng… i just see it as growth
Any yet they managed to make an even more incoherent mess out of the show after supposedly saving it, such that S1’s narrative mess in the final episodes you could at least wrap your heard around. I don’t even know where you go now. The show is too character-driven to really leave behind seasons 1 and 2.
no they didnt… its pretty awesome… for you i guess it doesnt work… oh well… but some of us love it. like how i loved ds9 but hated voyager yet back then some hated ds9 and loved voyager… however we didn’t have such easy access and time to whine about it as we all do now and boy do trek fans like to whine
Yes, they did. Watch the Season 2 reView video from RedLetterMedia for example. It’s gonna blow your mind ;-)
Some people hated it. Others of us thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, their were some plotholes, but I didn’t find any of them to be big enough to be too distracting.
i could send you to many reviewers who loved it… it’s a silly debate. we’re both right. i just dont get why fans who hate star trek always want to convince people who like it that they’re wrong. lol. so weird. just move on to something else and let us enjoy it
@olaf
RLM? Why would I want to watch raw sewage?
This?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SHhySoXDcA
My god, yeah. That’s pretty accurate.
LOL RLM are clearly NOT Discovery fans! I have not seen all of that review for season 2 but I did watch their season 1 review and they were pretty brutal on it. I thought they would at least like season 2 more but based on the little I have seen doesn’t seem like it.
I will be curious to know their thoughts on Picard, especially since Mike is more of a TNG era fan. They reviewed the Picard trailer but I have not watched it.
They did like the beginning of season 2 more, but then it went downhill. And let’s get this clear: I enjoyed season 2 (season 1 was meh, but I still enjoyed even that), but it has its fair share of plot holes. One could even argue that it’s got more holes than plot, but if you turn your head off and just watch it, one can definitely enjoy it, nothing wrong with that!
Olaf… I was feeling more positive after the first two episodes of S2 myself. But then….
I agree Olaf. It’s no secret around here I really did not like season 1 at all which I feel is one of the weakest Star Trek first seasons out there. But I was a lot more upbeat with season 2 and overall really liked it. BUT yes, it had a lot of problems too and while I thought it started off great it ended pretty poorly. Overall though I can say I enjoyed it a lot and was happy to see them trying to at least make it feel like Star Trek again. Season 1 just felt like a complete dreary mess IMO but season 2 isn’t far behind in the plotting department, but it was at least a lot more fun and interesting.
@Sam: yeah, that one! And yes, it’s crazy when you think it all through, isn’t it? I can’t even say they’re being (overly) unfair here, that’s the problem and why CBS should take a look at it and learn from it, hopefully…
S2 definitely improved early on with the whole first contact mystery it seemed to have going, but then it started to feel like early stage Alzheimer’s. But yeah, it’s nice to hear a commentary like that and be reassured I’m not the one suffering from it.
Perhaps temporarily. Pike, Spock and Reno were the most interesting people on the show. Without Pike and Spock, unless they elevate Reno’s character to be more on screen the show still will have the same problems it had in season 1, character wise at the very least.
Unless they just put on more new interesting characters next season too. And since they lost about a third of the cast at the end of second season (although most were just supporting like Sarek and L’rell) they will probably be filling in a lot of vacancies.
I’m going with someone will be a Picard descendant. ;)
There is that possibility for sure. Maybe that “Booker” (can’t recall the name) guy? We find out next year sometime.
What would you even call a Pike series?
Star Trek – already used
Star Trek: Enterprise – also already used
Star Trek: Pike – A bit derivative of Star Trek: Picard
Pike’s Enterprise – sounds like an indie movie
Star Trek: Five Year Mission
Star Trek: NCC-1701
That’s it!
They are not going to title a new Trek Series after a starships registry number.
They’ve just named one After a character. And Stargate SG1 had a long, successful run… :-P
SG-1 was the name of the team, like Seal Team 6.
Although I am an obsessed TNG fan, Mount / Peck / Romijn / that stunning new 1701 (both interior and exterior) were utterly amazing – done right (DS9 format of being episodic yet arc based) I hate to admit this has the potential to blow TNG out of the water.
To that end I suggest…. Star Trek: The Best Generation :)
Or maybe Star Trek: The First Generation
Except that it is at least 100 years after Archer & Co. So fourth or fifth generation.
Since it would be the Spock and Pike show, how about…..STAR TREK SPIKE?
(runs and hides)
IMHO DS9 already blew TNG out of the water. I respect TNG for making future Trek possible but that show was fraught with boring characters. DS9 was the first to break that mold and give us some really compelling storylines.
ST: Pike… the title should center around what the show’s about and what distinguishes it from the others… it’s usually the ship or character like picard… star trek pike totally works. i can’t imagine an indie movie being called star trek pike lol
the Picard series is focused on him ,but is a limited series.If you want a regular series centered around Pike. there has to be a unique story driven reason for it.
the picard series is a series… it’s not limited.
In the sense that it is only 10 episodes in one season it is.
26 episodes is limited. 15 is limited. yes agreed there is a limit. each series has it’s own. Veep was 10 or less for 7 years. Curb your enthusiasm is 10 for i think 9 seasons so far. limited means there’s a beginning middle end… and not continuing like a mini series. sometimes they do continue like big little lies. semantics? anyway picard is a series it’s first season is 10 eps (though they’ve been known to change that up based on the material) and if it does well and i can’t imagine it won’t there will be a season 2. robert picardo from voyager has already been approached for a possible season 2 role… im thinking maybe as a connection to holographic data
OK, fine. Then you have limited series’ and then you have one-offs. How’s that?
i dont get what you’re doing… you want to change what limited series means? go ahead. it is what it is whether or not you agree. google it.
So you are saying that a limited series is based on how many seasons it has rather than how many episodes? It certainly can’t be based on episodes as 13 episode seasons feels pretty darn limited to me.
I’ve suggested “Star Trek: The First Five Year Mission” a few times before.
Unfortunately that is a bit of a mouthful.
Yes, but not unprecedented. See “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” or “Buck Rogers In The 25th Century”.
People just referred to it as “Buck Rogers”. Is there a shortened version of “The First 5 Year Mission?” Weirdly I never felt Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea to be a mouthful. Wonder why that is?
Probably just “Five Year Mission”.
Star Trek: To Boldly Go
Unfortunately, The first 5 year mission was under Captain Robert April, and his wife- who was science/first officer. He smoked a pipe on the bridge and wore a Cardigan sweater. Now that’s a series I would love to see. I’ve read a few novels w/ April as Captain and he is the most interesting captain in the series.
If you ever watched the movie: The Day After Tomorrow, the old man scientist who first correlates the data regarding sudden global temperatures dropping, and who subsequently dies in the end. He reminds me of Captain April, except April would be younger…
Another character that reminds me of April is the old guy that used to facilitate the needs of that detective played by Tom Selleck. (Can’t think for the life of me…) Anyways, there is a whole other set of stories to tell when chronicling the first exploits of the starship ‘Anonymous’ (A name given to NCC-1701 before she had a name, as established in the original series novel: The First Frontier. I know, it’s not canon, but it should be IMO.
gosh…I kind of dig “Pike’s Enterprise”
Star Trek: Uncaged
But seriously folks, how about Star Trek: Valor, after the medal that would later bear his name.
Star Trek : Valour.
I really like that, and it it’s with Pike, but it might be confusing.
People might assume that it’s the name of a ship.
In fact USS Valour or the French USS Valeur would be a great name for a starship.
Star Trek: The Odyssey’s at Point Rain
The Pike Chronicles: A Star Trek Saga
I’m really excited to see their Short Treks. They were both casted just right for these roles. Pike though I had no doubt Mount was going to be great (and he had waaaay less baggage to deal with) but I was convinced everyone was going to hate the new Spock lol. Glad to be proven so wrong.
I wasn’t convinced, but thought is likely. Like you, glad to be wrong in this instance.
i like how we can think of both timelines separately… it’s kind of weird 10 years ago when JJ brought it back from death that there were 2 spocks… old and young… and now there sort of is again… peck was really great though i have to admit i loved the grizzled spock… could we ever have quinto spock meet peck spock in either a time travel or timeline crossover?
Possible titles for a Pike-Number One-Spock series:
Star Trek: Genesis
Star Trek: Origins
Star Trek: Final Frontier
Star Trek: Axanar (just to poke you-know-who in the eye)
how about star trek destiny as pike knows his destiny now he choose to set that fate in stone when he took the time crystal and at the end of the series the final two part episode the first half him getting promoted to fleet captian handin the enterprise over to kirk and then the second is a kinda flash forward a year to him on a tour of a cadet training ship and we get the full accident and him getting put into the chiar then at shows hime kirk spock and the starbase commander taklking then final scene the talosions restoring him and him and vina going off together and spock giving him the live long and prosper hand gesture
Michelle, did a punctuation mark hurt you as a child?
Let me try:
How about “Star Trek: Destiny”, as Pike knows his destiny? Now he chooses to set that fate in stone when he took the time crystal. And at the end of the series–the final two part episode–the first half is his getting promoted to fleet captain handing the Enterprise over to Kirk and then the second is a kind of flash forward one year with him on a tour of a cadet training ship where we get the full accident and his getting put into the chair. Then it shows him, Kirk, Spock, and the starbase commander talking. Then there is a final scene where the Talosians restore him and then he and Vina go off together and Spock gives him the “live long and prosper” hand gesture.
Hi michelle, there were rumours that Star Trek : Picard would be called Star Trek : Destiny.
It didn’t get many positive reactions.
My own negative for it is that arguably the best Trek-lit published in the last 20 years is an amazing trilogy by David Mack called Destiny.
I’m wondering if you’re writing on a phone or using voice-to-text. If so, it doesn’t seem you’ve got the best assistive technology for your needs.
I know you love the books but I felt that Destiny was a pretty good title for the late in life Picard series. It would not be an issue as most are unaware the book even exists and TNG themselves named a movie after one of their TV episodes. No one seemed to have a problem with that. And more would be aware of it than the book title.
There were other critiques of the Destiny title that were somewhat burlesque – and seemed to resonate with several posters here.
I’ll let them chime in for themselves.
Final Frontier unfortunately has a negative connotation due to the poorly-received Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Origins might be seen as stealing from the recent (little seen) Stargate: Origins. Both Genesis and Origins seem a bit weird as the Pike era is not the beginning of Starfleet, which is already about 100 years old.
I think we’ll get a name like “Star Trek: Pike’s Enterprise”, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”, “Star Trek: Starfleet” or “Star Trek: Five Year Mission” (although the last might be seen as locking CBS into a five season commitment they may not be prepared to guarantee.)
Star Trek: The Young Indiana Spock Adventures, with his buddy Pike
Unfortunately, Origins is the best but has a lot of baggage with it.
I still don’t see of what it is the Origin, though. Starfleet is already a century old.
Please! Please give us the Adventures of Pike & Spock! With DISCO exploring the far-away future and the Next Gen era resurrected by PIC, the only thing that’s missing is a return to the original Enterprise. I’ve been waiting for this for 30 years now. No, that Section 31 show is not something I want to see. Give us Pike, Spock and Number One ASAP! Their five year mission…
Hi Garth, it does seem that there is a niche to fill, and that Anson Mount’s Pike, Ethan Peck’s Spock, and Rebecca Romjin’s Number One have demonstrated that they can successfully meet the expectations of the base audience.
I actually expect that for some it’s more than 30 years. I loved the 90s series, but I know that there were some original TOS fans that always felt something was missing. (It seems there are a lot of TOS fans here on TrekMovie.)
I’m not sure it’s appreciated today, but when both Voyager and Enterprise were premiered, the showrunners made statements that they had intentionally created shows that would be pushing out into the unknown and beyond the stability of the Federation of the TNG era.
That is, they actually said that they were trying to recapture something from TOS that fans missed.
I kind of felt that this was fan-service at the time, but at this point I’m very much on board with CBS turning from a One-size-fits-all strategy for Trek to a diverse menu of targeted offerings.
So, it makes total sense to me for CBS to give long-time fans the show they’ve been looking for since TOS left the air – which has also proven to be appealing to fans who’ve joined the franchise along the way.
Not to mention that, selfishly, after seeing S2 of Discovery, I’m now one of the fans that has discovered that bringing back Pike and the earlier missions of NCC-1701 is something that I’ve been given that I didn’t know I needed.
I would like to see the show begin several years earlier, with a Lt. Cmdr Pike serving under Captain Robert April at the launch of the Enterprise. Then flash forward to the “present day” and tie-in something that happens on the first mission into what the Big Story for Season 1 is going to be, i.e., the origin of the Five Year Mission Project or something like that.
I doubt they would take the whole series back that far.
You’ve come up with a great idea for a Short Trek though.
We’re getting one about Spock’s first day on the Enterprise – a Short that flashes back to April and Pike doesn’t sound to be too much of a reach.
I must say I thought there was a decent chance a Pike show would be announced. Unfortunate it didn’t happen. Still holding out hope it can happen. Everyone is saying all the right things to make us think it might. But talk is cheap.
Oh well. There is still Lower Decks to be looking forward to.
I said months ago people were getting their hopes WAY up for something that may not be in the pipeline any time soon. Yes, it could still happen, they could even announce it next week to be honest since nearly none of these shows were announced at a big convention outside of Picard. So yes its still possible, but I’m sticking with the idea its probably at least two to three years away at best if it comes at all. But you’re also talking to someone who didn’t remotely believe Discovery was heading to the 32nd century until one of the characters literally said it on screen, so take that for what you will. ;)
But yes oddly I’m getting more and more excited about Lower Decks the more I hear about it lol. They confirmed it will be canon but also read the ship will be involved with ‘second contact’ after the big important ships like Enterprise did the first big PR meet and greet and moved on. This show sounds like its going to be a lot of fun.
Turns out you were right. Yeah, they didn’t announce the others at a con. But this one felt like it deserved the big stage treatment more so than any of the others. Perhaps the timing just wasn’t right. Kinda glad I didn’t head out to Vegas now. Was thinking about it. The Mrs said she couldn’t get the time off for it. Gonna try for next year, though.
BTW… I totally saw only two possibilities for Discovery’s fate. One was getting shot way into the future. I really thought it was amazingly obvious as the other option would mean the end of the show!
I’m thinking that the CBS – Viacom discussions may have put any announcements of new Trek offerings in the freezer for a bit.
Usually, when there are joint interests or shared properties, it’s considered ‘not on’ to make decisions until they can be made jointly.
If the people at CBS aren’t giving serious thought to a Pike Star Trek series, or even a limited series, they’re fools. Mount, Peck, and Romijn were great in these roles and there is a lot that could be minded from Pike’s time on the Enterprise that’s never been written about. Make it so, CBS.
I am earnestly surprised it wasn’t an attempt at a backdoor pilot. It sure looked like it. Starting from being caught flat-footed, it’ll probably take CBS a couple years to get it going properly. But no way the iron’s not in the fire now; it fits perfectly with their strategy to eventually have multiple Trek shows going to cover every segment of audience and to have some kind of Trek airing throughout the year.
Short Treks aren’t enough for Pike and crew. We need a full series.
Section 31 should be the short treks that tie into the Pike series in some way with an occasional episode focused on the hijinks of space hitler.
You know, Short Treks DOES feel like a better place for the wacky hijinks of our favorite cartoon genocidal maniac.
I’d like to see Georgiou face off with Harry Mudd in a Short Trek. LOL
David Mack has tweeted that he’d like to write an animated Short Trek. I’m wondering if he has an S31 idea?
Agreed. A PIKE show is where a lot of varied and interesting storylines with an inspirational crew could hook a large fanbase instead.
How about naming the series Star Trek:Constitution. Keep it to something simple
Some real possibilities given they left the Federation pretty fragile – dependent on dilithium crystals having lost 25% of its territory to the Klingons, Starbase One destroyed and only saved by a potentially unethical ‘hail mary’. You really get the feeling that they have to rebuild the Federation and even in TOS that the Federation is pretty dynamic and fragile. At the same time Starfleet seems to have gone way out of its way to put the Constitution class starships in the role of special ambassadors / explorers tasked to try to put the pieces together to the point they even have different uniforms. Plus… the beautiful Number One, that legendary ship and what an awesome functional bridge!!
Another cool idea is that we now know Vina and the Talosians can communicate with Pike… what if they demand Pike do something unbeknownst to Starfleet/UFP. This would let them get Melissa George in on the act as a regular too whom I thought was fantastic.
I really wish they did a better job of making clear exactly what was lost in the Klingon war after season one. Its clear Starfleet took a beating but then in season 2 Control said that Starfleet had 7,000 ships. Its not clear if he meant that’s how many were functioning now or pre-war. But if its that many now it does sound like they that they are not in too bad shape.
Star Trek: Unto the Unknown
They should call it ‘Star Trek 1701’