‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Debuts To 9.6 Million Viewers, Record CBSAA Signups And Critical Praise [UPDATED]

The first ratings and reactions to the debut of Star Trek: Discovery are starting to come in. We have the overnight national TV ratings, news on CBS All Access subscriptions, and first mainstream critical response.

UPDATED: Star Trek broadcast premieres with 9.6 million viewers

Earlier we reported initial ratings for the the broadcast of the first hour of Star Trek: Discovery had a total of 8.2 million viewers, which was characterized by TVByTheNumbers as “decent.” There is now an update on the ratings from  Entertainment Weekly with the Discovery numbers adjusted up to 9.6 million views (with a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49, according). EW also reports that CBS “expects the numbers to rise to 15 million viewers and a 3.0 rating when adding seven days of delayed viewing.

For comparison the adjusted live ratings for The Orville on it’s debut two weeks ago were 8.6 million with a 2.7 rating in the demo, although that show has seen a drop since it moved to Thursday night without the NFL lead in. 

Discovery sets All Access record

Of course the broadcast premiere of Star Trek: Discovery was really just a glorified commercial for CBS All Access where the second episode debuted last night. There are no ratings for streaming services but according to CBS, Star Trek: Discovery broke a new record for subscriber sign-ups in a single day, eclipsing the previous record held by the 2017 Grammy Awards.

CBS also announced that All Access has had the best week and month ever for sign-ups due to the launch Star Trek: Discovery in addition to their other content, including the fall kick-off of NFL on CBS.

Critics (mostly) praise debut of Discovery

Reviews for the debut of Star Trek: Discovery (like TrekMovie’s) were embargoed until Sunday night, but they are starting to trickle in. Discovery currently has an 88% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 critic reviews. The Metacritic rating is 74 based on 16 reviews. So far most of the reviews in the mainstream range from positive to mixed. Here are some examples

Star Trek: Discovery has every chance from here to become something great, possibly even awards worthy.
Forbes

With its level of talent and commitment, Star Trek: Discovery has a decent chance of getting on course to complete its mission.
USA Today

This is light years removed from being a perfect TV show, but it already shows signs of being a great one.
NY Magazine/Vulture

This feels like a show struggling to find its heart. But at least Martin-Green gives it a pulse.
Entertainment Weekly

Despite being outfitted with some interesting wrinkles, Star Trek: Discovery is an unspectacular addition to the existing fleet of Trek-branded series.
CNN

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 mornings.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.

 

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Well, there goes the idea of CBS All Access being a disaster in the making. It seems many trekkies in America went for the plunge. Good for them.

Decent rating to start then… more than respectable in todays very congested market of hundreds of channels and streaming providers. The numbers that TNG got will never happen, television is completely different to then.

Sounds good. Also, I’ve not heard any major issues with All Access last night so they were, evidently, ready for the influx of people tuning in.

Yes, TUP, seems those concerns were unfounded. I had a smooth ride watching it streaming last night.

Only issue I heard from CBSAA was some were not getting 5.1 audio and only stereo sound on their systems.

CBS-AA doesn’t offer 5.1 sound at all actually.

Signed up last week. CBS AA is actually a smoother run through my Roku than a few of my usual mainstays. Was worried about the extra traffic congesting the stream but no problems here.

I had a better picture than the OTA antenna broadcast via the network — so glad I watched it at 6PM online. It looked like a 4K HDR stream at times.

So did I. CBS-AA via Apple TV V.2

I wonder how many people watched the first part on CBS All Access already and therefore don’t count towards the TV rating.

@Diginon — basically anyone from the Central TimeZone to the Pacific who planned on signing up for the free trial already would have watched it as early as possible, or streamed it on demand if they got to it late. So the idea that a significant network audience was still tuning in to watch it in Prime Time is pretty amazing. The DVR time-shift numbers may not go up that much, if there’s a jump to online viewing since that’s where the show will live.

Central Time also started 18 minutes late (7:48pm.)

They might have caught some people napping. I know that I reminded several friends about the delay and they were shocked and had to extend recording or record the replay.

I was one of those.. i checked the app at 530pm PST and saw that I could already stream both eps instead of waiting until 8pm PST, so I went for it

By that same logic Orville will be a huge hit and never have a decrease in viewers. Wait…

@Kirok — except that’s exactly the logic some have been using over on THE ORVILLE page.

@DataMat said: “Well, there goes the idea of CBS All Access being a disaster in the making. It seems many trekkies in America went for the plunge. Good for them.”

Let me be clear: I really enjoyed the show. However, your statement above is extremely flawed. The test is not how many people signed up yesterday. I mean, it’s FREE to sign up. The true test is how many people keep subscribing after their FREE trial ends. So even as someone who ENJOYED the show, I can’t support statements that make no sense.

Addendum: All Access may be a huge success, or it may not. I hope it is. But it’s too early to declare any kind of “victory” when the free trials (assuming people signed up yesterday) haven’t even ended yet. Let’s see how much subscriptions drop off or remain a month from now and we’ll actually know something.

@trekfanman — you seem to be a reasonable person, so I’m sure you’ll agree that we’ll never know how many people drop their subscriptions after the one week free trial period. However, you can bet CBS will continue to announce when subscriber rates are up. If those announcements keep coming, then we’ll have some idea how successful the series is. If we get silence, then we can draw some conclusions about that as well. Not sure if they have to disclose subscriber numbers at quarterly reports, but those numbers can be buried in other figures depending on CBS reports them now.

I am in UK and have Netflix. Was not aware that All Access was offering a free trial. It makes sense though. I guess Discovery will have to really get good, quick, to encourage fans of Trek to stay with the service when it comes up to pay-day.

Before breaking out the champagne, let’s see how many All Access subscribers stick around after their free trial ends.

Wagon train to the stars is back!!!!! Action, adventure, non perfect characters, iconic ships and devices and ethical dilemmas with no easy perfect technobabble solution! And aliens with some real cultures that inspire the imagination and do not fit into our necessarily human centric / human value comfort zone. Push those boundaries! Warp speed! The final frontier is exciting and unknown again.

That was my feeling too, I’m in the UK so the wife and I watched it on Netflix (on TV thru Fire TV). It felt like pure Trek but brought visually up-to date. The future felt futuristic again and the Trek universe feels fresh, I can’t wait to get a better look at some of those gorgeous Starfleet ships! But the biggest surprise after all the online hate, was the Klingons, wow! They had declined in the 80’s/90’s from an intelligent foe, to a bunch of drinking, headbanging morons, getting worse with each appearance. These Klingons felt like an immersive ancient culture, an intelligent race capable of beautiful craftsmanship and a race of noble warriors. I like these Klingons, I can understand they have a viewpoint too, as much as the Federation. Shock ending, can’t wait for Ep.3.

The only thing that upsets me, my dad and my grandfather – both Trek fans, never lived to see it, they’d have loved it.

It’ll be interesting how the season storyline plays out and, how it concludes in the final episode next year. Will they end it with a cliffhanger and carry it on in Season 2, or will they end it straight out, and start with something different.

Yes! My favorite part was how different the Klingon and Federation cultures felt from one another; it really seemed as if those two groups would have a lot of trouble understanding one another.

Record signups for a free trial no doubt. All Access will be this show’s demise. Too much compression and no 5.1 audio for a paid service.

You are so out of your element.

How am I out of my element? The quality and catalog of All Access doesn’t even come close to the other streaming services. All the Star Trek series look great on Netflix and Amazon, but are poor quality on All Access. You don’t even get the high def version of TNG on All Access.

Unless All Access ups their game with the streaming quality, I will stick to the superior services with my money and wait for Discovery to be on Netflix in the U.S.

@Trellium — you might have a long wait. Better get used to it, as all studios are pulling their content from the big content packagers like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Enjoy it while it lasts. By 2019 you won’t have any Disney content on Netflix.

Better get used to TNG, DS9 and VOY streaming at low quality because CBS will choose to yank its property off of better services rather than improve the quality of their own service to entice people to switch?

If the shows were streaming at the same quality as they do on Netflix, I would go all in on All Access and dump the other service.

Netflix didnt stream in the quality they do now when they launched. Give it time. By most accounts, the quality was good.

All Access will continue to improve. They surely have data to show them where to invest. And i suspect, upgrading to 4K doesnt provide the return that financing more original programming does.

Content is king. Especially original programming.

With any luck, they will move to 4K and be a success and that leads to CBS financing a 4K transfer of DS9.

@TUP. I am not talking about 4K. Anyone that has Netflix and All Access can compare the streaming quality of the previous Star Trek series and see that the All Access version is very poor quality.

The only response I got from AA support, was to adjust my tv settings. Never mind that my tv is calibrated to standards and the episodes only look terrible on AA and look equally terrible on my mobile devices when using the AA app. But those same episodes look just fine when using Netflix.

Anyway, while Discovery was watchable on AA, it alone just isn’t worth the extra subscription to enjoy all of my Star Trek favorites. If I can watch the older series with good streaming quality, the cost will be worth it for me to switch services.

I didnt watch on All Access but its odd that so many people have raved about the quality? maybe the quality was only poor in your home?

@TUP – The quality of Discovery was fine, minus the lack of a 5.1 audio source. I am talking about the catalogue of all the other Star Trek series on AA. They are using very bad transfers of those shows and some are completely unwatchable. Why would I pay money for a service that can’t even provide me with Netflix quality versions of their own property?

They will get my money eventually for Discovery from DVDs or iTunes.

I’m just glad that AA asked why I was cancelling. Hopefully they will do something about it.

@Trillium G — I realize you think you understand the industry, but as you spread your FUD, let me assure you it doesn’t work the way you think it does. Hulu and Amazon also carry the old Trek series, and they do it mostly in SD. In all likliehood, CBS has a contract with Netflix giving them exclusive access to the HD versions of TNG, HD upres transfers of the others. When CBS re-negotiates, or pulls their series from Netflix, they will most likely upgrade their own service.

@Curious – Yes Voy and DS9 are streamed in standard definition on all the services. Now read each word carefully – The episodes on Netflix, in SD, have a superior picture quality than the same episodes being streamed with a degraded quality on all access. Understand yet? Compare for yourself before accusing me of spreading FUD. If you aren’t willing to compare for yourself then kindly stfu since you have nothing to contribute.

@Trellium G — I have compared them for myself. Netflix is superior to both Amazon and Hulu, which is where I always watch them. As I said, there may be a contractual reason for this, in which case CBSAA must likewise adhere to the non-compete. Just like BBC America had HD copies of TNG long before anyone else did.

TNG in HD was initially exclusive to Amazon. BBC America was able to swap the SD masters for HD masters once they were available.

Star Trek is also presented in HD on BBC America.

HD masters do not exist for DS9 or Voyager.

Yeah, what’s up with the quality on AA? They’re streaming an ancient transfer of TOS with the old special effects. Voyager looks dark and has poor contrast. TNG is remastered but also looks dark.

Finally someone else who has noticed! Voyager has the worst transfer out of all of them. The blacks are so crushed everyone is walking around with a half blacked out face.

Those bad transfers don’t make a good impression for a paid service IMO.

I like Discovery, but the Star Trek series are the only shows in the CBS catalog I am interested in watching. Discovery alone just isn’t worth it. I want them all in high quality.

@Trellium G — most people don’t care about that kind of stuff. The average home setup is likely a 40″ LCD and a soundbar, if that. Many CBSAA subscribers will likely watch on their tablets and phones. It’s certainly not enough to make or break a series …

From a practical standpoint, DISCOVERY being on a fledgling streamer absolutely WILL limit the audience. But CBS surely factors that into their projections.

@Drew Melbourne — of course it will. But CBS already has the sequel to THE GOOD WIFE to draw a completely different demographic, and they’ve already greenlit three new shows for it, a drama, a mystery/thriller, and a Will Ferrel comedy. I think what CBS hopes to do more than anything is build an international audience for Star Trek via Netflix, which for many will be the first time they’ve had access to new first run Star Trek. And that’s likely paying most of the bills anyway.

The idea is to draw viewers in and encourage them to sample other content. If Star Trek fans only sign in for Star Trek and The Good Wife fans only tune in for The Good Wife the content is too narrowly focused. To truly break out they’ll need content with broader crossover appeal and preferably original content that doesn’t rely on existing properties.

@Denny C — CBS greenlit three new original productions, including a mystery/thriller, a drama, and a Will Ferrel comedy. It takes time to build a network, but THE GOOD WIFE and STAR TREK are two good places to start.

Right, but you need one breakout original to build a network. They need a Mad Men, The Shield or, more recently, The Handmaids Tale. You can’t play it safe.

@Denny C — you’re on the verge of being Obtuse. DISCOVERY is what CBS is banking on to be a hot for them. I have no idea what point you’re trying to make now.

With season 2 rumored for 2019 what else is there on All Access to motivate Star Trek fans to keep paying 5.99 a month until season 2 premieres? How likely is it that you’ll hold onto your All Access subscription after the season 2 finale airs?

@Denny C — little or no chance, depending on what CBS brings to the service by the time the DISC finale airs. I might even cancel during the break. Regardless, CBS certainly is aware of this. And now, thanks to Discovery a good number more people are aware of CBSAA. And every time they deactivate their subscription for another season of DISC, CBS will likely have more to offer them in hopes of keeping the audience longer. Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu all started the same way, though they offered other perks, some better than others. I still don’t see the point in Hulu, never have, and have activated and deactivated that account a number of times over the years, after binging whatever series they had I wanted to watch. I’m about to do it again, since they haven’t added MASH to the lineup after announcing a deal for it to start airing by the end of Summer. I’m gonna wait another month for it to turn up and in that time I’m gonna check out HANDMAIDS TALE, which doesn’t look at all interesting to me, but it has obviously gotten a lot of critical acclaim.

“The Good Fight”

Of course. They expect 15 million to watch this week in the US. And want to grow All Access to 4 million over time. So they know the limitations of attracting subs.

If they get 2 million to sign on and stay they’ll be happy.

Enterprise premiered to 13 million and UPN didn’t reach as many homes as CBS so both premieres are roughly on par with one another.

Yawn

Well yeah I DO wonder just how many actually signed up to watch the show full time vs how many just signed up for the free week to watch the second episode and then cancel. I know a few on Reddit who already said just that. So its hard to say and of course CBS will spin any sign up as new membership.

That said I signed up 6 months ago and I plan to stay signed through first season. Hopefully many will too.

I paid the $100 in advance for the whole year for Star Trek. Nothing else. If they release more Sci-Fi/Trek? I would pay extra for it. That is all.

I wish I could know how things will unfold in the future with the certainty that you do, but alas I do not have your powers.

How’s come we never saw the Discovery ship list night?

I know! I was disappointed. Here we have a pilot of the series named after the USS Discovery, a ship that doesn’t appear in the pilot, lol.

Last night (and part two) is the backstory episode. I’d imagine Discovery will make her premier in episode three…

You’re kidding, right? It’s been known for a long time that the pilot would involve a different ship.

I had this weird moment because I thought I saw Discovery in the battle in Ep. 2, but maybe I am wrong. I thought it flew through.

@Trek in a Cafe — I actually wanted to go back and take a look at that scene. One thing that surprised me is that not one Constitution class starship showed up. Now, I understand why they’d want to hold that back, but from a practical standpoint it seemed a bit strange. Then again, they say they’re way out on the edge of Federation space, and given the constitution class ships are likewise on their own deep space exploratory missions, a plausible explanation. I sort of got the impression that the Discovery was in a drydock somewhere since this takes place earlier.

I guess if Lorca was there we will def find out about it

@Trek in a Cafe — actually it would have been great to introduce the Discovery that way. I thought it didn’t really help excite an audience for a show about a ship they haven’t seen at all. The Discovery could have been the ship that came if late, to rescue the Shinzhou and that’s how he first met Michael. Oh well. I’m sure there’s some reason why that’s not practical.

Yeah, I was looking for a Constitution class starship as well. That was the kind of fan service I wanted. Instead, I got a delta shield in the dirt for no reason. Lol, CBS. Lol.

That might indicative of a Connie having not been created in CGI…meaning less likelihood of seeing one. or they made one, very detailed, and held it back.

That moment the tractor beam grabs the Shinzhou and there’s slow pan up reveal of the Europa… I was really hoping to see a Constitution instead. Sad trombone. LOL

I’ve watched it all twice, and did pause at a number of scenes when the Federation ships show up. I’m glad you brought this up, because I thought all of them looked pretty generic. A couple of mildly different looks, some bigger than others, but nothing standout. And definitely no Constitution Class. Was kind of bummed how across-the board-standard-they looked. The Europa seemed the nicest of all, before they self-destructed.

Right, but if you were just casually watching and not a Star Trek fan you would have no way of knowing that the pilot was the setup for the rest of the series.

Must missed that one…

Episode 3.

Because “Discovery” doesn’t refer to the ship, it refers to the character discovering herself.

…I wish the star of the show would discover some better methods of acting.

You saw it,you just weren’t paying attention. LOL!

Interesting! When ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ made its debut, 12.5 million viewers tuned in.

I think a lot of fans looking for the return of TOS have been put off (Enterprise pilot had peace with the Klingons that you felt like giving up in the first 10 minutes). ST:2009 reboot reignited the base just to have Star Trek Into Darkness make Kahn a poor misunderstood guy who just wants his family back from evil Starfleet GWB where the Enterprise lasts 20 seconds in combat. ST: Discovery is kind of like Beyond I assume where they are finally delivering what the fan base wants, but it will take a while for fans to hear that finally, FINALLY we are getting some good Trek. Remember this is after 20 years of putting up with boring TNG and then the horrid Voyager just because we had only 12 channels on the dial and were desperate for anything Trek. More importantly though I think Discovery engages the Trek fans who will buy technical manuals, models, have their kids watch it, read novels, etc.

Just a different television landscape.

Yep, and most left shortly afterwards…

Interesting! Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled three seasons earlier than expected, due to plummeting ratings.

@David F. Guy — plummeting “Live” ratings. Don’t mistake why it was canceled. At the time DVR time-shift viewing was in its infancy, and those ratings we have today (Live +3/+7) didn’t exist, much less accepted by advertisers. So it’s a myth that ENT was cancelled due to low ratings, there’s evidence that it was doing quite well in the time-shift audience. It was primarily cancelled because it didn’t fit the new demographic that CBS wanted for the CW brand launch.

You still have to monetize time shift. Everyone watching on their PVR’s and not watching commercials isnt going to convince a lot of advertisers to buy ad time.

Thats why some people here who insist on waving the Orville + numbers around are pretty funny. It tells the studio the show is more popular than it seems. But they still have to monetize that or at least decide that monetizing it later is worth it now.

For Discovery, the plus numbers are more important since it means those people WILL watch, whenever they feel like it. Perfect for streaming.

Spot on analysis. Had today’s metrics been in place when Enterprise was on the air ratings there would have seen a respectable uptick. Even so, it wasn’t going to work on the CW.

@Shilliam Watner — different time. I didn’t even watch DISC on a network broadcast, I streamed it at 6:00 PM PDT via CBSAA. Also there’s a lot more competition for eyeballs, and DVRs are more commonplace than ever, which plays heavily into this as there was a huge NFL game broadcast opposite it.

Yeah, I wonder how many people watched the premiere on CBS All Access instead of CBS broadcast.

But there wasn’t a UPN All Access website at the time either. I actually watched the premiere on AA BECAUSE I live on the west coast and both episodes were already on that site hours before they even showed the first episode on CBS. And many probably watched it online. Unless that figure is taking that into account too.

And UPN reached fewer households.

That’s like comparing MASH’s gobsmacking ratings to hits of today. Things have changed now that there are so many choices.

UPN reached 86% of all households will CBS reaches 100% of all households so. My point is that Enterprise reached fewer households, had to compete against original content on dozens of cable channels and still managed to pull in 13 million viewers. That’s an impressive number.

Gotcha. I had meant to respond to someone above you in the chain.

As soon as the premier ended, I signed up for CBS All Access (although I’m too cheap for the commercial free option). I loved the premier, especially how more fleshed out the Klingons were. They truly feel like an alien race and much more nuanced than we’ve ever seen them. The acting, the costumes, the sets, the music, the effects, and the atmosphere all combined for an entertaining and provocative viewing experience. To me, this felt like Star Trek, and I can’t wait for new episodes.

I’m waiting to see the number of subscribers who cancel after the one-week trial. I’m one of those. I signed up last night, so I’m part of this record number of signups, but I’m actually cancelling today. I’m not hating on the show; it’s just not enough for me to pay them a monthly fee, and I’m not interested in enough other CBS content to care.

Same here. Signed up last night, watched the 2nd episode, than cancelled. What I saw isn’t worth $10 a month to me.

We need a thread where can compile a list of everyone who has vowed not to watch, just so we know they cant sneak in and trash the show later…lol

Great idea. :-P

Your comment has nothing to do with what I posted or Danpaine’s reply. Neither of us vowed not to watch. In fact, we both watched. We simply decided to stop watching, no vows not to watch. So, hahah, funny comment but totally unrelated to our comments.

Sorry, you’re right. We confused “Not watching” with “Not watching”.

lol. If they are taking the time to comment on a fan site that they are cancelling, me thinks they’re talking out their arse

2.5 bucks for a brand new episode of Trek each week? Yeah, too much (!)

Yes, that is too much for what Discovery offers me. Your opinion of my spending decisions is immaterial. If it’s worth that to you, great! Have fun watching! But stop whining about those of us who choose not to spend our money on something we didn’t enjoy. (shocking, I know)

I hope you give it another week, it’s been widely stated that this was more of a 2 hour prologue and not really a pilot. The real show starts next week. But enjoy saving $6 and browsing this site for spoilers instead :)

@Paulb
How much money have you spent on Trek merchandise, collectibles, vhs tapes or dvd or blurays and Trek movie tickets? And 2.50 per episode is too much for you? Hmm.

@PaulB — you’re never going to see those numbers. Yes there will be cancellations, but likely far fewer than you imagine. With both healthy reviews and huge ratings, this series is likely going to do quite well without you, especially when you factor in the massive international audience who are likely seeing Trek for the first time, an audience which is likely paying for the lions share of the production. Better get used to it though. This is the beginning of streaming networks, and soon, you’re going to have to make decisions about which services and show you do want to watch, as every studio starts pulling its own productions from other streaming platforms.

My guess is the great majority will stay on for the first month at least. After that, who knows? I guess it will depend on how good the show is by then.

the reviewers said the best episode of the first three is the third one.

@Curious – You think it will keep subscribers. I think it will lose a lot of them. Only time will tell. As I said, I’ll wait for the numbers instead of prognosticating as you insist on doing. Also, was your diatribe about streaming networks necessary? I didn’t complain about streaming networks, merely said CBS doesn’t offer enough for my money. Why did you feel the need to vomit up that irrelevant rant?

Why would it matter to you how many subscribe or cancel? Its interesting in the big picture but has no bearing on an individual’s enjoyment of the show (or lack of enjoyment)

As numbingly mediocre and forgettable as the first episode was… I’m still on board, at least until the Discovery is introduced. If that ship is also full of lifeless automatons, I’ll have a lot of thinking to do.

Well. Based on these reviews and others on the “title sequence” thread, I think I’ll wait and see if improvements come before I invest ;^p

Reviews have been really Marja… are you waiting for there to be ZERO negative reviews?

You should “invest” that $5.99 into a Super sized combo at your favorite fast food joint or something.

“Discover” disaster relief. Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas, Louisiana . . .

@Marja — disappointing attitude coming from you. Especially since it’s free. You can sign up for one week free today and see all 3 episodes before you decide it’s not for you. Just think if you’d taken that attitude about ORVILLE, and weren’t already paying for cable, or whatever means you use to watch network TV, you wouldn’t have a new show which you’re now enjoying.

how can you be on a fan website and not want to watch what the fan website is about? lol. this thread is hilarious

@Marja,

Yeah, better to wait to see reactions to the upcoming episodes before you make a commitment to subscribe to another service. Wile it got good to mixed reviews, about 88% on RT, the audience gave it just 65%.

Luckily for me adding a new theme pack to my cable package to watch ‘Discovery’ included nine other channels such the Sundance Channel, FX and AMC; in addition to Space channel. Going to see if the show will improve in the coming 3 weeks or not.

@Ahmed. That’s an awesome package. Telus only offered it with a bunch of discovery channels that I’ll never watch. S

What a disaster with the Knee from the cast.

I will not buy ANY Trek for the next ten years.

Later!

Why does a silent protect from the cast about an important issue that is, in effect, anti-racism, bother you so much? Are you not in favour of anti-racism protests? lol

I was left with a bad feeling about these the actual BLM message.
With the NFL entertainment industry feeling like they have to be so vocal, I must say that this “protest” is all about bringing down the best example for freedom in this world. America and its Flag. WHY? Because they are led very easily and are ALL very uneducated about what it took to secure their freedom to protest in the 1st place.

No one is protesting to bring down the Flag or America. If you dont understand, best not to comment…

Maybe listen to the plethora of veterans who are very supportive of those taking a Knee.

Seems too pointed at the American flag for ME, TUP.

How is kneeling a personal affront to the flag? Like, do you think those people kneeling want a different flag? It has nothing to do with the flag, at all.

Imagine living in a nation where the elected leader is someone who genuinely seems to hate people that share your skin colour? How would you feel?

Its a silent, non-violent protest. Remember, Trump had nice things to say about the confederate flag waving, racist nazi losers that protested. But suddenly a KNEEL by oneself is so objectionable and offensive that the person should be fired?

Crazy!

So you choose to honor the flag, rather than what’s it’s supposed to represent? You know, I’d ordinarily hesitate to do this to anyone, but you might want to try re-watching THE OMEGA GLORY sometime. Just horrible, but there is a valuable message in there nevertheless that I think you somehow managed to miss.

@TrekMadeMeWonder Your ignorance is so overwhelming, it is impossible to begin educating you. Your comment is a string of irrational thoughts with no basis in evidence or reality. Come back when you’ve actually learned what the hell BLM and the protests are actually about. It’s easy to find. It’s all over the Internet, in countless sources, in simple English.

Wow. Two comments telling me to shut up. Wonderful.
why dont ypu educate me on the BLM message?
To me it lloks like people need to begin VOTING.
Perhaps only then will any BLM protest actually make sense.

What does voting have to do with it? Just because a guy wins an election doesnt mean a large segment of the population should be mistreated.

There are negative elements to BLM. But if you simply look at the heart of the issue, there is a lot of racism in America still. And you have a President who englames that.

One need only see how he reacted to the protests by Nazi’s and protests by black athletes. And how many Trump supporters are reacting, many in the media, saying these black athletes should be grateful they’ve been allowed to make millions of dollars.

Trump is either really really stupid or a malicious White Supremacist. Possibly both.

The flag cannot be personally offended. its a piece of cloth. If you believed in it and believed in what soldiers fought for, you’d scream loudly about the rights of players to kneel in silent, non violent protest for a worthy cause.

I don’t give a peep about US politics nonsense anyways. Not anymore. Besides, it would be better to rename your country to Divided States of America. Polarization seems to be your game. When political corruption, a society of harshness and letting the Church run primary care is on your standard menu, that’s goodbye for me.

So you think the freedom to protest shouldn’t involve any actual, you know, protesting. Interesting. What is it that Trek made you wonder about, again?

Folks care more about appearances than humanity. Taking a knee is a call for our country to be what that flag represents to *all* people. Not to see so many of our citizens slain and mishandled because of the color of their skin.

That is a sad state of affairs when some prioritize the cloth more than adhering to and living the meaning of the cloth.

We really do need Star Trek.

I get that. I really do. However, I think you are missing a salient point with this demonstration. The American flag is presented at social and political events and still plays a key part in a long tradition of celebrating our military patriotism, and our constitution. The flag serves as a symbol of all of it’s citizens. Our best values. Freedom, Liberty, and Justice. Kneel when it is time for ALL of US to appreciate ans show respect to one another — and share our common values in a time of unity only insults those who have died to create and protect ALL of Our rights as citizens of this country.

I say to those that would kneel. It is divisive, and [in my opinion] it generates fear and hate and will cause someone harm eventually. But go on and do what you think is right, but just be careful who you are now apparently kneeling too… and, of course, MAKE SURE you are pointed in the correct direction.

One more thing. Based on experience I know these things. You see. When someone dies protecting your right to be FREE. THey give you a nice folded up American flag to make you feel better. Because they know you will respect that.

DON’T LITTER! (And click my link for a change)

Thats stupid.

They didnt do anything to the flag. Where did they disrespect the flag? Did I miss an NFL player wiping his ass with the flag? The flag has nothing to do with it.

You’re being suckered into Trump’s fake news argument. Its about racism and inequality, fuelled by the President of the United States. Not the flag. Not the anthem.

MANY veterans support these athletes.

That flag stands for the freedom of all Americans to express themselves. THAT’S respecting the flag. And those athletes did just that.

TUP, if you can’t see that this knelling movement directly attacks the flag – and patriotism, then I can not help you.

We’re probably more worried about you being able to help yourself at this point. Attack the flag? seriously …

Thanks for the concern, kmart.

TrekMadeMeWonder You replied to me in a polite non-cruel way so, it seems you’re actually interested in discussion, which is sadly rare. We (as in people in this country with disparate views) need to talk to one another. I wish we could sit over lunch and discuss because social media isn’t ideal, but I’ll take what I can get.

Anyway, full disclosure, I’m a black woman. From my perspective, when I see people passionately arguing about the sanctity of the flag but have likely never said a word of empathy about what’s happening to people who share my skin color, I rightly look on that with suspicion.

I see so many criticizing how we speak out on that, it tells me there’s literally no way we could protest that would meet with certain people’s approval. That really, they just want us to shut up about it. Which, yeah, because we’re human and love ourselves isn’t going to happen.

If even silent protest respectful protest (which doesn’t actually violate any protocols with the flag btw) is met with this much contrary… In a nutshell, it feels like convincing those on the other side of the issue that empathy for your fellow Americans adheres to the ideals of the flag more than all doing the same thing while is flies and the anthem plays.

Gingerly, thank you for the thoughful reply.

I AM worried about our society, and how e communicate. Yes I would take you up on that conversation in person some time. There is just so much to tell each other about our shared world and our country, and it’s past and direction and how to move forward.

I am always greatly disturbed when I see a new instance of abuse by authorities. It seems to happen every day. And how we go about challenging that system is important. Some of my favorite heroes these past few years who are trying to stop the violence include Marilyn Mosby, a courageous attorney in Philadelphia who fought for to arrest the police that killed poor Freddie Grey. That was a terrible example of where we [apparently] all still at in this country. And since apparently there was no real justice there, I am sure we will see many more to come. But that situation as well as the Ferguson shootings, can be directly linked to poor education and a poor economy, and if you have noticed these situations ALWAYS seem to play out in cities and states historically controlled by Democrats who offer a dependence on social welfare policies but who also rely on a higher conviction rate (Three Strikes?) or the Democrats favorite final solution – ABORTION ( sorry, I even hate to type that word). You see Abortion is the truest RACIST policy, and its offered by the Democrats as a right that is even above the Bill of Rights!

I am saying to you, that someone is playing you. Be careful what movement you join and always examine its history and origin. Especially the Democrats.

The conversation continues, I am sure…

@TrekMadeMeWonder

A system that doesn’t provide adequate support for children who are born into underprivileged homes is still in a way of performing abortions, in my opinion. It’s just a much longer, less humane, and more widespread consequential abortion.

There’s an article in the New York Times, really an Op-Ed from Colin Kaepernick’s former teammate, in which he details the background of taking a knee. If you google it should pop up.

Anyway, the background is Colin initially sat down having started this during the Obama administration, but thought that was actually disrespectful. So he consulted a Marine Vet friend of his about an alternative gesture. Something that would impart a sense of mourning for those black people who have been killed by police but saw no justice., but still respect for the flag. Some in history have kneeled in deference to royalty for example.

So, he actually started doing it for the same reason that he’s gained criticism. I’m willing to bet, those who take issue don’t know that background.

Gingerly,

Thanks for the enlightening information on the genesis of Colin’s protest. I had not heard this important part of “his side” of the story. I see he had some forethought to ask someone of relevance, although i think it is still not a well thought out.

I will offer this. I now will give support to the new and modified “take a knee before our National anthem” protest. Or better yet that we join hands – or better yet, lock arms as we stand. What a great idea!

However, I think a distinction should be made that this is a show of support for people who are victims of race hatred, and NOT a protest message against the police or the US government, for that matter. As Colin’s earlier on-field apparel protest had indicated (the socks).

So what exactly is the message?

Black lives matter? Yes they do, obviously.
ALL lives matter? Of course.

But this Kneeling protest seems to have the singular reason for black lives matter, and that is fine. I support that. But protests that break the law or destroy someone’s property – are just plain wrong.

I will kneel with you, if you will have me. But please let’s make sure that the point of the message is understood, and that is not harming anyone, regardless of race, sex, or employment, or for ANY reason.

Just so it is not offensive. Colin may have meant for his movement, or show of support to be heard and seen by many, but the actual method has not helped his true message reach a positive end, or his [football] career for that matter.

But I do also respect his sacrifice for his cause. As far as I understand it. I will look into it further.

Also. It is really not a Democrat or Republican thing for me. But the Dem’s message seems to be a causal influence on the welfare state and the abhorhant and needless abortion movement. And then you have the repubs and the perpetual state of war.

Is this a no-win scenario for our great Enterprise?

Isay, “NOT WHEN WE STAND TOGETHER AS AMERICANS!”

kmart,

I suppose we have to be patient with these young whippersnappers who think taking a religious stance during a national anthem somehow “attacks” an inanimate idle (sic) object, whilst having other nation’s, such as the Confederacy’s, various flags of opposition to it on display in front of it, next to it, or nearby does nothing of the kind.

I mean, we’re from a generation that thought to attack a flag we had to do something like pull out our Zippos and flick ’em, but what do we know?

Look. I am trying not to mince words here. I said attack the flag and patriotism. It is my belief that this flag kneeling protest movement is being lead be some very negative people. People like George Swartz and the Clintons and Yes even Obama. People who would like to see our government go away and have the US controlled by some communistic new world order.
YEAH, GO AHEAD, LAUGH AT THAT!!!

I like America. I like Freedom and I like Liberty. Why would anyone here want to argue with that. We should stay strong and UNITED – as if we were one people in this nation – then if we truly wanted to embraced each other – then racism would not exist. If you want to fight racism or police abuse, or even create a sea change movement – then YOU have to take action – EVERYDAY. (for a small example of this, click my link above)

No one is going to do stop racism with malice. Following an angry person like Kaepernick, who thought it would be a wise idea to wear around police/pig socks, or who then thought by insulting/attacking the US flag and patriotism by kneeling – when its time to show respect to your fellow citizens – is simply NOT the way to move forward.

It ONLY creates discord and DISTRACTS you from our true strength as a united country. If you would wake up from the programming (Yes, even Star Trek is directly involved in your social programming) then perhaps you will realize that you food is NOT going to ever come out of a wall replicator, without working and participating positively in our society.

@TrekMadeMeWonder – Sometimes I wonder if you people are actually real. You live in a country where an astounding amount of people live under the poverty line. Where an astounding amount of people do not have health care. Where the rich are given tax breaks and pampered, just so they can become even more rich. Where your politicians are corrupt millionaires in the pockets of industry. Where your government is essentially run by the rich and the oligarchs. Where you kneel at the altar of money, ultra capitalism for a harsh society.

Where your primary care is run by religious institutions instead of a stable government, where religion is sitting on the lap of your own government and spitting in the face of secularism. Where millions upon millions of people start their lives in debt only to die in more debts, where making debts is a national sport. Where millions of people can’t get a good education and class / money decides where you end up, a division that you all seem to love under the ‘American dream’ monicker.

And here you are. A right wing American. You do realize that there is no ‘left’ in America, right? There is only RIGHT and FAR RIGHT. You shout about communism but you don’t even understand what the hell you are talking about. Patriotism is a cancer that fuels war and division, a sickness that is based on the idea that you are better than others. You have nothing to be patriotic about, you live in a society that is running itself into the ground with breathtaking speed. Freedom and liberty my ass, those are just buzzwords indoctrinated into you that are as far from reality as Mickey Mouse is.

Instead of foaming at some bullshit flag I would suggest that you look in the damn mirror for once.

How do you know me So well? I rail against all the principle fallacies that this country suffers under, AND I walk the talk.

You don’t know me. And whoever enters into a debt.
Its on them. My rights are guaranteed by government and ARE in fact unalienable. ANYONE in this country can start his own business and partake in the liberty derived from good work or innovation.

I wonder. It seems like you have a lot of rage. Where are you from? And what is your chief beef with the USA?

@TrekMadeMeWonder
I gave you facts and sources you can look up that directly contradicts the beliefs you’ve just expressed. I would hope that when confronted with evidence and extra background knowledge, that I would at least look into it before leaning heavily back into my original POV.

Again, I cannot link because links are moderated here but you can google the article title: “Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee” for more background info. It is a reputable source, directly from the horse’s mouth, in this age of so much propaganda clickbait.

Add “they say” he is changing his religion to muslim. Are you going to get PC about this too? Or will you defend Women before that messed up religion?

No one owes anyone a meal or healthcare. Pick up your game and earn it.

Right. Because Star Trek was never progressive, and never once stood up for the ideals of freedom and equality for all regardless of the color of your skin.

More for me! Yay!

Peaceful protest not your bag? You prefer the rabid torchbearers of Charlottesville?

@TrekMadeMeWonder — great! Does that mean you’re going to stop coming here and posting then?

lol

Guess its ok to have your nfl take tax free breaks so they can afford high salaries and big stadiums, but honor the flag at game time?
THAT IS WRONG! Also, doesnt the nfl get military flyovers, and ad revenue. REDICULOS!

You’re really dense if you think it had anything to do with the flag.

Was Rosa Parks protesting public transit?

Dont be suckered into the garbage fake news argument that it has anything to do with the flag or anthem.

Ridiculous is spelled with an “i.” It’s = it is. Also, your thinking is as flawed as your grammar. NFL players exercising their First Amendment rights has nothing to do with “not honoring the flag.”

Get over it grammer boy.

Probably.

CBS and Abrams failed me. The SPX and music were always great for Trek. But the POLITICS finally destroyed the little show. For me it comes this argument resolves with one line… GOD and COUNTRY, FIRST.

You’re in the wrong fandom.

Taking a knee? What?

Tiher2.
fyi the entire cast of dicovery took a knee to align with the senseless hate your president meme.

TrekMadeMeWonder

Colin started taking a knee under the Obama administration.

Agreed. More Hollywood anti-American ignorance. Not a dime.

0dkinWood — Great! So you’ll stop posting here too then?

If only.

Stop disrespecting the Constitution with your anti-1st Amendment ignorance.

It would actually make me more likely to subscribe. Funny, that.

It’d be the only thing that would incline me to subscribe. Nothing that funny about it, though.

So much for the claims that people would’t sign up for CBS All-Access… that fans would boycott the show… that the reviews would be negative… that it would tank… that it would kill the franchise… blah blah blah.

@David F. Guy — yeah, there’s a few highly vocal people not posting today for some reason … maybe they’re over on the ORVILLE thread discussing the good old days?

@Cadet – i said the same thing on another site. That all the usual suspects I was thinking we’d see today havent been around. Im not sure if its the high ratings and good reviews or the fact it IS actually a good show.

there was certainly enough to be critical of and yet they arent here. I guess they LIKED it!

Honestly I think some of them are paid to push the agendas of certain ex-TNG types… and given the high quality of Discovery it does not matter what the ratings are. The days of Bore Trek TNG where it is the Young and the Restless in space with an A/B story and lots of technobabble are over.. apart from the comedy in Oreville.

@Curious Cadet,

Unlike retirees like you, some of us start the week working on Monday and don’t have time to post a million comments shilling for a product during working hours!

You sure do post a lot on all the other threads though, ahmed. I guess you were on vacation and had more time then.

He took the month off to celebrate the debut of Orville. lol

To be fair, Ahmed was wrong. lol

I enjoyed it. And yes I signed up for the commercial free option. Although I do not want to spend $10 a month I simply had no choice. I am simply a die hard Trekkie.

I reach, but its time to wake up.

Hope its low quality production values do not hurt the chances of another Kelvin Universe movie with the existing cast.

St Beyonds dismal box office will hurt the chsnces of another Kelvin movie. Also important to note Paramount owns the movie rights to trek and CBS owns the tv rights. Low production quality? Discovery is looks like it has movie production values.

@Paul — huh? You mean THE ORVILLE? Because there was nothing “low quality” about DISCOVERY’s production values. That said, the existing Kelvin Universe films with the current cast, have likely come to an end. Hard to imagine with Paramount’s financial issues that they would agree to make another movie with Bad Robot which doesn’t seem to be able to make a movie for less than $180 million. Bad Robot has already hurt the chances of making another KU movie with the existing cast, especially since he’s signed on to direct another Star Wars movie, and won’t play nice with CBS merchandising.

“Low quality production values” – LMAO! You can dislike the show, sure, but how can you say it’s low quality production value?

What low quality production values? Star Trek has never looked this slick, and they’re spending Game of Thrones level money at this…

just trolling going on now. Ratings and reviews prove it

That won’t be a problem because Discovery doesn’t have low quality production values.

So almost 10 million now. And they predict 15 million with the plus numbers.

Now the question is, how many converted (or will convert) to All Access. Those are really good numbers.

That’s the million dollar question. Unfortunately we’ll never really know.

Im sure CBS will tout their numbers at some point. Usually it comes out. Even Netflix, which is notoriously secretive, the general sub numbers are out there.

As a public compamy, CBS has to reveal numbers.

But Netflix didn’t release those numbers, Sony and Lion’s Gate gave permission to Nielsen to release ratings for shows that they either produce or provide for streaming on Netflix and Hulu.

CBS will likely only go as far as saying that subs are up and have exceeded their expectations.
Ratings for The Good Fight have never been provided by CBS and the total number of viewers is unknown.

I watched it via my PS4 and had nothing but issues with the CBS access. Went to watch it today and still having errors. Highly disappointed with it. This is not a show I want to watch on my iPad. I want to watch on my the big screen TV and it just doesn’t want to work.

I initially tried to connect w/ my Skystream One, when that didn’t work I used the PS4, and like you had many errors w/ buffering- and I have an excellent download speed. I then re-watched it on the computer and experienced less problems, but still: I can imagine the millions of technologically lame Trekkers being unable to watch.

I had error after error. I stream my Netflix and Amazon through my PS4 and never have an issue so I know it’s not speed. I’ve heard from a few of my friends who had issues also and the only difference between the ones who had issues and the one who didn’t is he paid the 9.99 for no commercials.

i haven’t heard anyone else having problems

This is positive news which I hope the show can build upon.

I expect there were fans who just wanted the comfortable slippers of a TNG/VOY format of an A/B story each week, but I like the fact that STAR TREK can play with its storytelling format.

Yeah, but how many of those record subscriptions drop off after the free trial week? That will be the true measure of success.

I think gaining the signs up is the most important aspect. Thats the wall that people had to climb over. If you signed up and later cancel, you are someone that might sign up again.

Streaming services (actually all Telecoms) experience a lot of churn. But to get people to sign up for All Access was the big hurdle.

This is a good point.

Yeah, getting people to sign up builds brand awareness. Some will definitely cancel, but a lot won’t. I’ve subscribed and dropped Netflix at least a half dozen times.

@MattR and that’s the power of streaming. The consumer might pay more in the end to subscribe to every platform with a show they like, but they only have to sign up for the time they need to watch it. The argument that it’s too much trouble to do that doesn’t really fly if they’ve ever rented a movie online, or made an online purchase for that matter, because it’s simply not any more difficult than that.

That model could change, however and it’s a bit of a catch 22. As consumers drift away from cable and begin to subscribe to streaming services the streaming services become the new cable company and may require that you lock in for x number of months. If they own and control the content you’re pretty much at their mercy.

The house always wins.

I haven’t felt compelled to drop my Netflix subscription… there is always something I want to watch there. The All Access catalog however is a bit more… limited. Actually, all that I might care about there is Discovery, and even that has disappointed me so far. Thankfully I get Discovery on Netflix.

I’ve already stated it but the critics like episode 3 the best. They won’t cancel

Aaaaand…. they all joined the ignorant “take a knee” crowd. I thought the premiere was not great, but tolerable. Now, I wouldn’t piss on this show or it’s cast if they were on fire.

The ignorance is presuming that taking a knee is somehow offensive to the flag. It’s not. It has nothing to do with veterans. It has everything to do with oppression. The people complaining about taking a knee are the same people who fly Confederate flags as an expression of free speech. You know what’s really offensive to the American flag? The Confederate flag. Meanwhile veterans everywhere are supporting those who take a knee. They didn’t fight for the flag; they fought for the Constitution, and the Constitution gives everyone the right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest. Those upset at this whole taking a knee business are as un-American as they come.

It also doesn’t go against the official rules of respect for the flag. Though wearing the flag and printing it on objects does.

I also guarantee that not one person who is upset by those who are kneeling stood from eating their potato chips on the couch for the anthem either.

I actually signed up to UK Netflix because of Discovery, otherwise I never would have bothered. I am pleased by what I have seen.

I’ve signed up for Netflix as well. Didn’t consider it necessary before.

It was OK. Pacing was a little slow. A couple of the Klingon scenes just dragged on. The look and voices of the Klingons is also going take some getting used to as they seem like a new species entirely. CBS All Access is awful. Way too many commercials.

I totally agree with this. Though I appreciate the bravery of going full-tilt into a completely alien culture.

Congrats to Star Trek Discovery’s ratings success on its pilot.

Well we can always wait for it to come out on DVD 😎

@Jim — I actually think that’s a possibility. Given that CBSAA doesn’t stream in 4K HDR, I would bet they intend a 4K BluRay release, possibly even the first half season just in time for Christmas.

That’s pretty much what I’m holding out for. One way or another they’re going to get my money and that’s fine.

Dolby Vision would be even nicer.

@Jim – That is probably the most sensible thing to do. Pay once and watch as many times as you want without a recurring fee, and in much higher visual and sound quality than CBSAA is able to deliver.

I thought Discovery was pretty good. Like TNG before it, I may take me a while to really like these characters. Some seemed “a little wooden” to borrow a review of Leonard Nimoy from TOS in the 60’s. They also seem to influenced by ST:2009 in the design. Which isn’t a bad thing if done properly.

On a different note. I watched it on broadcast for the first episode and then on All Access for the second. I was one the new sign ups.
This BS with the NFL pushing back start times for other shows needs to stop. NFL; this is your time slot, you go over, your off the air. You are not a major historical event that needs to keep shifting time slot because you have to call time outs 10 minutes. Enough with this SPORTS mentality in this country. Your average high school student knows more about FOOTBALL than what is going on in the world around them.

Refer to the “Heidi game” from 1968 to know exactly why a sporting game will never be cut off by regularly scheduled programming, and for good reason

There was a great movie about the Heidi game that sums things up perfectly.

I am very intrigued by the phenomenon of so many people who regularly come to a Star Trek website, are active posters, and yet state they are not interested in the show to pay $5.99 to watch Star Trek. It is fascinating. I wonder if this happens at other places- do people drive to basketball stadiums to proclaim they will not pay for a ticket to see the game? Do people do this at other niche websites? It seems like a fascinating, and sad, psychological phenomena that people would use their time this way. It really stimulates my curiosity.

Completely agree. They come to post and proclaim to love Star Trek so much, yet that love definitely has limits. In this case it is $5.99. That is like almost six whole dollars.

There are other ways to express your love. I’ll be holding out for the eventual 4K Blu-ray release. I’ll watch season 1 eventually but right now there’s no sense of urgency to do so.

@Denny C: Yep, I might do the same thing, save up on the monthly fee and put it towards the first season set. Especially since CBS only streams in stereo and really has nothing else I can’t already get through Netflix or Amazon.

The past few weeks and all the incessant negativity and this ridiculous ‘Orville’ rivalry has convinced me that Trek has some of the worst and most toxic ‘fans’ in the history of anything. Complaining about the price is kind of crazy to me. As a kid, and living in the UK, to see Trek that wasn’t several years behind the US I would spend my pocket money on VHS tapes – and they were damned expensive!! I would pay £11.99 (maybe upward of I dunno $17 for just two episodes in crappy VHS quality 😂 I must have bought half of TNG and most of DS9 on video…and I did it cos I loved it.

No reason to blame the fans who have supported Star Trek for over 50 years. I come here to get news about all Trek projects, merchandise, conventions and so on. If Discovery goes away tomorrow, there’s plenty of Trek out there. Fans don’t owe CBS blind allegiance to anything called Trek. If people enjoy the new show, fine, but they don’t have to.

Great to see those huge viewing figures. I loved the first two episodes, instant classic.

As one of the Star Trek fans that believed that Star Trek Discovery was initially more concerned with the politically correct check box than telling a story, I must say that I was pleased with the first two episodes. It’s off to a solid start. It wasn’t perfect. I am not at all convinced of Sonequa Martin Green’s talent as an actress, but I finished episode two wanting more.

After more than a decade of no Trek and meaningful sci-fi on the tubes, we now have Star Trek Discovery and The Orville (which I am also pleasantly surprised with). These are good times for fans of sci-fi.

I signed up, but I am not enthralled with this show. I think its a decent Scifi show but its not really Star Trek. Most of the “Ideals” were reduced to throw away lines about being explorers, etc. . The tech is way too advanced and doesn’t fit in the TOS Timeframe. Before everyone jumps on me, there are fan produced shows that do a better job with this. I will watch, I will give it a chance, but I just feel after watching two episodes, that this is just a interesting show. I hope my feelings will evolve over time which is why I’m giving it a chance.

Watched the second episode and while it was a bit better than the first, the pilot overall was meh.

None of the characters were likeable, except maybe captain Georgiou. Martin-Green wasn’t as bad as I feared even though her actions made little sense, makes you wonder why she would be up for the captaincy. The rivalry between Burnham and Saru on the bridge seemed unprofessional. The Klingons scenes were mostly boring, their iffy dialogue didn’t help. I’ve seen better space battles on DS9 than the one shown last night.

Visually it looked a lot like the Kelvin movies with its frantic, weird camera angles. Way too many lens flares & that space jump scene that was out of ST09 and STID. Burnham skype call with Sarek in the middle of a crisis was strange and in a way similar to nuSpock calling Spock in STID.

They build up the Klingon leader the first two hours only to have him killed by the end of the second episode? That was a wasted investment in the character.

If they get a second season they should fire the writers & get a new team in place.

I would say the critics disagree with you. I would also say the fan base disagrees with you. Maybe you should watch again.

And there’s nothing wrong with that, is there? I agree with Ahmed.

Before it airs: “I hate it and it will suck”
After it airs: “I hated it and it sucked”

Hard to care about opinions like that, really. But to each their own.

Boohoo, whine whine whine. Instead of posting ramblings, perhaps do some thinking first. Why would this character be up for a captaincy might have to do with the events BEFORE this show, don’t you think? When there was no war, no Klingons or conflict. Rivalry is common and wanted, it is a good thing that people question each other instead of simply saying ‘yes boss’. It is sign of a good team.

I know you don’t like well shot, beautiful shows. I know you love to hate anything that even resembles dynamic filming. For you live in 1990, where static shots were the norm. Luckily for us, most people don’t live in the past.

And what do you think MIGHT be the reason for the Klingon leader to be killed? What storytelling device might this fuel? We may see him again in flashbacks. But he is now a martyr and that is the catalyst the other Klingons of his house will use to drive their holy war forward. Don’t you think that this persona was essentially a placeholder to give OTHER Klingons the actual storyline?

These comments, they sound like little babies twittering coo-coo-coo instead of doing some mature thinking.

I’m sorry but I found it extremely boring. In some ways a bastard child of Voyager and Enterprise. The thing is, it didn’t bug me until I realized that the show was over. For some reason I thought the first two episodes were to be shown as one pilot for the television audience. Instead, it was a painfully dull hour of setting up a payoff that wasn’t shown. Captain Lorca is the main reason I’ve been able to sell myself on getting the subscription. He’s the most Kirk-like Captain since James T himself. Not in the pilot. The Discovery itself? Not in the pilot. Any action aside from Mikey “oopsing” the Klingon torchbearer to death? Not in the pilot. I know I know. It’s important that Discovery succeeds. For the future of Star Trek, for gay equality,, to give Timmy his legs, to prove that SJW can actually work in the free market, etc. I get it. And if you enjoyed it, I hope they get seven seasons out of it. They were certainly enough little positives to see potential. But on a night when Discovery needed a home run, the pilot was a slow roller for a single. But hey… at least they’re on base now.

I would like you to watch the first season of TNG, including the abysmal pilot, then please tell me whether or not your remarks here make any sense. They tried something different, isn’t that what you have been yelling for all this time? That Enterprise was just a retread of TNG? That we were bored to death with the rehashing of the same stories time and again? I mean everything you say, it sounds like a child not getting their cookies.

How many of those 9.6M viewers were on CBSAA, where the show will now be exclusively available?

Hey! Long time, no see. Hope all is well with you, dm.

Those numbers reflect the total number of viewers who watched it on CBS. The number of people who viewed it on All Access will always be a bit of a mystery.

I don’t understand that reviews which read as being reserved, if not lukewarm toward Discovery, can be interpreted as providing “mostly praise”!

A lukewarm review still skews positive. If you look at the reviews for Marvel’s Inhumans things kind of come into focus.

I thought it was great. I really enjoyed it. Will have to do a re-watch to get all the extra details that I couldn’t see the first time round. I think it will be a quality show and I can’t wait to see more. I’m not so concerned about characters being killed off in the beginning since you haven’t really invested much time in them anyhow. Nice work

Nice to see no Orville army bots spamming the joint in this post. You like Star Trek, watch discovery. You like not-Star Trek, go watch Orville and post on some Orville website.

Great job CBS, a welcome addition to the Trek Family emerges.

Are you kidding me, SHiiNZoN? Orville feels like TNG-era Trek. It sounds like TNG-era Trek. It has plots like TNG-era Trek. It is made by people who created TNG-era Trek or loved it.

Discovery is… well, something. Trek, not so much (so far). It might turn out to be good Sci-Fi, even though I don’t see that yet. It’s a bit like JJ Trek… they’ve changed all the essentials, but by adding a few details that are like they used to be, they think they can trick fans into believing it is the real deal.

But what really kills it for me is a boring, contrived plot, unbelievable characters doing stupid things, stiff acting by all the Klingons (no doubt hindered by the masks that hide almost the entire face, and don’t move along with the actors) and Michelle Yeoh. The soundtrack is forgettable. The effects are good, but the battle sequence bored me to death. The camera work is… strange, and I have no idea why they did what they did.

I didn’t have a good time, even when trying to keep an open mind and distancing myself from the hope that this could be Star Trek. It was not even a good Sci-Fi show to me.

I’m not trying to troll here, there are a couple of things I liked about the show, like the opening, and Sarek, and that guy on the bridge they killed off. Burnham for the most part was good too, and I thought the bridge was better than I expected.

Hopefully the next episodes will be very different, and much better.

Oh and I also liked how diverse the cast was, the lighting was very well done, … it wasn’t all bad, but it was at least as weak (in terms of plot) as many American Gods episodes, once you’re past the strong beginning.

@kadajawi — “a boring, contrived plot, unbelievable characters doing stupid things … I didn’t have a good time, even when trying to keep an open mind and distancing myself from the hope that this could be Star Trek. It was not even a good Sci-Fi show to me.”

Isn’t that interesting … that’s exactly what I thought about THE ORVILLE. In fact I got confused as I thought you were talking about ORVILLE at first.

To each his own.

Sure, it does look and sound like TNG but Star Trek is more than that. Watching the first two episodes of The Orville didn’t make it ‘feel’ like Star Trek to me. Even when compared to my least favourite episodes of Voyager, DS9 etc, it still didn’t feel like it should be bundled together with it which is the point that I guess was not readily apparent.

So no, I am not kidding you.

That’s interesting. How did it not feel like real Trek to you? The stories are rather cerebral, with the third episode discussing topics such as gender/transgender, discrimination, etc., and challenges our preconceived notions. It even ends in a court scene. Yes, there is some absurd humor thrown into it, and some toilet humor too, but I was glad to find that Discovery too had some humorous banter between the colleagues (and humor that kind of worked).

The worst VOY episodes are truly awful, I wouldn’t be able to see similarities between those and Orville (so far).

I admit that Orville isn’t perfect, and the first episode just tries to introduce the characters, the plot is absolutely secondary and forgettable, and kind of a take on TMP. But the second and third episode are significantly better (better effects too), the humor is toned down to a much more realistic level. Still not perfect, but leagues above the first TNG season for example.

With Discovery I’m hopeful that all the stuff said in interviews does come to fruition, that we (the critical fans annoyed by all the changes) will be satisfied if we stick around, that they have an explanation and actually know what they are doing. I understand, that the first two episodes are meant to kick off the show, and are some sort of prequel. But boy, why didn’t CBS let the first, say, 3 episodes air on regular TV? IIRC according to a Netflix study it takes viewers about 3-4 episodes to get hooked. If I didn’t already have a Netflix subscription I would have turned off after the first episode, and been like… yeah, not missing anything there.

Orville is not Trek and sure as hell doesn’t feel like Trek. That third episode was ludicrous to say the least. Not just because it was a ripoff of far, far better shows but because the entire premise is madness. A species that is all male? But, biologically speaking their species does not even need females; the entire reproductive cycle is done without a female in sight. Thus the idea of females, that serve no evolutionary role, that look like human females (including breasts) is nonsensical to say the least. For that matter, what makes a species that lays ludicrously large eggs ‘male’ anyway, what defines ‘male’? Such a species should be hermaphrodite and have no gender at all.

And surely the inept captain would know about his crew right? His third in command is an alien but the captain did not know anything about it’s species? And this person could simply ‘lay an egg’ during active duty?

Man this shitty episode, with it’s nonsensical notions makes even the TNG pilot look like solid gold.

Bert Beukema,

Well, in humans a hermaphrodite is not defined by possession of both chromosomes in one’s pair, i.e. individuals born with both an X and Y chromosome are defined as male.

Also, the anatomical formation of sex organs is given expression more from timing and the amounts of various hormones present during gestation than the mere fact that the individual has a particular pair of chromosomes at conception, i.e. in humans, both XX and XY individuals can be born with both sex organs anatomically expressed.

You ask an excellent question as to when human civilization expands to explore interstellar space, what makes an organism male?

On Earth, birds use different chromosomes from humans but still use a chromosome pairing mechanism with a markedly different anatomical result. For example, the individual bird organism born with a pairing of both sexes’ chromosomes, which most armchair human “sexperts” (sic) would say makes them male, are, in fact, the egg layers.

In another sexual species, the Komodo dragon, the egg layer when isolated from any possible reproductive partner of the opposite sex can and will lay eggs that can not only result in living offspring with anatomical sexual organs of one or the other sex, but said organs will be totally functional at maturity to the point that sexual reproduction can resume for the species in that isolated environment.

Orville is nothing like Star Trek. And it pales in comparison to Discovery.

The Orville is Trek Lite and it will be gone soon.

Watched the broadcast 1st part but didn’t sign up for CBSAA. I’ll wait 10 days, sign up for a month of premium CBSAA without commercials and then watch the first half of the season that ends in early November. Then I will cancel CBSAA. Half the season for 10.99 without commercials. Honestly the wow factor did not hook me to have to watch the 2nd part right away. This seems like the reasonable way to deal with the pay wall.

Why is the second episode only 37 minutes long without commercials and season previews?

So that they have enough extra time for all of those commercials and season previews.

I found this to be a difficult watch. And I’m suprised to see Brian Fullers name attached to this, given how weak some of the writing actually was. The Michael Burnham character made some ridiculously questionable decisions. That I for one, could not fathom the logic behind. And I really can’t see how she managed to rise so high in the ranks of Star Fleet, when from the get go all she did was demonstrate a total inability to follow the simplest of orders.

The overall Special effects were fantastic. Really impressive for TV show I thought. But like everyone else seems to be saying there is a lot of room for improvement and it will be nice to see that happen. But judging by some of the questionable writing of this pilot. Whether it will get the chance or not is another matter entirely.

Yeah, because the TNG pilot was superbe. Or does that shite also fall under the ‘room for improvement’? Or because many TOS episodes were not based on really shit character motivations. Always something to whine about. Let’s talk about the wonders of Voyager, or as I’d like to call it: Star Trek: Spacial Anomaly of the Week.

The positive aspects far outweighed the negatives, it was an enjoyable first couple episodes. While not great, I will definitely be tuning in each week.

The lighting on the show reminded me of Star Trek Renegades for some reason.

I hope they lose the subtitles soon. A bit hard of hearing here, and want to hear clear/clean dialog from the Klingon actors.

If you’re hard of hearing, wouldnt the subtitles be better?

LOL. You people are really sad. Where I live we subtitle everything. Not just foreign languages but even our own for those who have hearing problems (you can activate or deactivate it). Why is it so difficult to read? I hate science fiction where supposed alien species talk English. It’s ludicrous. Like Germans speaking English in war movies, it only panders to English speakers who are too lazy to read.

9.486 million viewers
1.9 adults 18-49
1.0 adults 18-34
2.7 adults 25-54

Watch out. Ahmed will be by soon to tell you why those don’t matter.

Am I the only person completely appalled that this new show is all access only? I have watched every episode of every Star Trek tv and movies numerous times, but will not watch this show. It’s called a shake down, and to do this with such a beloved franschse and with such loyal fans is a disgrace. All Access is a joke, quality & sound are not up to spec and what else is there to watch after this show ends? Sorry CBS, this will not end well and you have just killed another Star Trek with your greedily half assed plan!

…not to mention, it’s already been paid for with advertising!

That’s not entirely accurate. Licensing fees and advertising will offset a big chunk but it takes some time before a show is in the black.

@JPL65 — looks like no more Trek for you. So sad …

A service is being provided for a fee… how is that a “shake down,” exactly?

Why didn’t they just show the 2 episodes as a movie on CBS then started the series from Episode 3 on CBS All Access?

I watched the premiere and really enjoyed it overall. No, it wasn’t perfect, but the positives far outweighed the negatives. After all, the first few episodes of TNG were pretty flawed too and that turned out to be an excellent show.

I’m definitely going to continue watching. I signed up for the $5.99 option, I don’t mind a few commercials. And it’s less money than I pay to HBO to watch Game of Thrones. (It’s also less money than a single meal at a fast-food joint and much less unhealthy to boot.) I’m pretty selective about what I watch on TV, but I’m also willing to shell out a pittance for good quality TV. (I’ll also be purchasing the Blu-Ray when it (presumably) is released after the season concludes.

Down to 82% critics and only 65% viewer rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Quite mixed reviews. Has potential, but needs a lot of work.

“Has potential, but needs a lot of work.”

A whole lot of work.

@northstar — meanwhile over on IMDB it’s at 7.3/10 based on almost 8,000 user reviews compared to ORVILLE’s 7.5/10 based on less than 7,500 user reviews.

Now contrast that to Rotten Tomatoes which currently has a 65% based on less than 1,500 user reviews, and the ORVILLE which has an 86% based on barely 2,000 reviews. Then add into the fact that RT’s critical review of the ORVILLE is 20% and DISC is 81%.

So I guess it all depends on whether you’re a Rotten Tomatoes kind of person, and trust that a smaller sampling of users represent a greater proportion of the viewing audience; or and IMDB kind of person which has a much larger sampling of the viewing audience. The critical reviews, of course, speak for themselves.

It’s always the vocal ones that post these reviews. Generally those who are negative outnumber the positive. If I may refer to the TNG pilot: has potential but needs a lot of work. Or rather my own opinion: it was an abysmal piece of shit with one or two gems hidden in the manure.

Axanar who?

It’s not rare to see great shows find their footing later on. No panic, I’m sure that around episode 4-5 we will be hooked t’il the end begging for another season.

At first, I didn’t know what to expect of ST:Discovery; but after watching the 3rd episode, I’m really digging this Star Trek Discovery. I’m pleasantly very much surprised how well this series is with just 3 episodes aired — way to go Star Trek Discovery!!! Very many KUDOS!!!