While Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Bryan Fuller could not attend the 50th anniversary Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, he beamed in via a recorded video. Also, TrekMovie caught up with DSC executive producers Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth to learn more about their role in the new show.
Fuller Addresses the Convention
In a surprise video, Fuller said
“Hello Las Vegas! I’m Bryan Fuller, executive producer of Star Trek: Discovery. I’m very sorry that I can’t be with you this week, but we are all very hard at work designing, crafting, and casting a brand new Star Trek. As many of you know, I became a writer because I wanted to be a Star Trek writer, and I’m so proud to be a part of this new iteration of Trek. Our series will have new crews, new heroes, new villains, and explore new worlds, but most importantly…it will still embrace the same ideology of hope for a better future that is a cornerstone for what Star Trek has represented for fifty years. On behalf of the executive producers, the writers, and the entire Star Trek: Discovery team, have a wonderful 50th anniversary celebration in Vegas and we can’t wait until we can share more Star Trek: Discovery with you.”
Roddenberry, Roth Reveal A Tiny Bit About Discovery
During a panel with DSC executive producers Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth, the pair focused on discussing the Roddenberry archives and the lost TOS footage. Naturally, the audience was eager to ask the pair questions about DSC. Unfortunately, Roddenberry and Roth felt that there was little they were allowed to say about the series.
TrekMovie, however, caught up with Roddenberry and Roth after their panel to see if we could tease out some more details about the series. As we previously reported during an interview with Roddenberry and Roth during a DSC press junket at San Diego Comic Con, their roles as executive producers is to ensure that Gene Roddenberry’s vision is upheld in the new series. Following up on that, we asked them exactly what role they play in the show. While not present in the writer’s room, Roddenberry and Roth do receive story ideas and near-final scripts from the writing staff. They review them, and pass notes back to the writing staff.
Further, CBS’s announcement that DSC was already profitable, and paid for, thanks to the show’s international distribution rights, we asked Roddenberry how that would affect the longevity of the series. Every Star Trek incarnation has had to deal with budget issues and questions over renewal due to ratings, but with the first season of DSC fully-funded, Roddenberry admitted that would provide the creative team with the freedom to develop the best show possible and chart a course for the series in future seasons.
When asked whether Nicholas Meyer would direct any episodes, Roddenberry and Roth did not know, but would not be surprised if he did.
Can’t wait to see this.
Can’t wait to see this…to see if it’s gonna be any good or not. Please be good. And please have a terrific main theme and intro. that grabs everyone by the neck from the off.
It’s been a long road, gettin’ from there to here……… ;-)
Even the forced rhyme at the very end of the song manages to work after you’ve heard it enough, owing to the insidious pop-smithery of Diane Warren.
I can reach any star. Cuz I’ve got faith of the heart
Hehe, my thoughts exactly!
@ VulcanSoul – one of the many reasons I refuse to include the ‘Enterprise’ show in my own TOS ‘timeline’ is due to it’s simpering song! I despised it as a ‘Trek’ theme at the time, and I still despise it now. Just about any alternative orchestral theme would have been preferable, as far as I’m concerned.
I’ve consigned the ‘Enterprise’ show to the same ‘alternate universe’ as the likes of ‘Star Trek Generations’ and J.J.’s reboots…but I’d have at least been encouraged to tune in sometimes if it’s intro. had used some sort of purely orchestral cue to hook me instead – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfWgU1fj3nM
Cervantes
You couldn’t just skip the Tivo over it? Not that I can’t comiserate with you. Some of the VOYAGER writing got so awful that I couldn’t stand to hear the poor actors, troopers that they were, torture their lips trying to impart something, ANYTHING, to it so I’d mute it and just read the closed captions.
It might interest you to know that for the ENTERPRISE two part episode, IN A MIRROR, DARKLY, they totally redid the opening for those two episodes and replaced the song with a Terran orchestral theme.
@ Disinvited – yes, I came across that ‘mirror’ theme for the ‘Enterprise’ show a while back. Even that would have been preferable to the ‘song’ intro., I reckon. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfbsZRbwbJ4
…and of course, the ‘Voyager’ show is part of my non-TOS ‘timeline’ too. ;)
(and if the upcoming ‘Star Trek Discovery’ show ends up having CGI effects that are not much better than those in ‘Enterprise’, then I’ll gladly stick it into my ‘alternate’ Trek universe too!)
Wow complaining about that best thing is to ignore most TOS the acting is so bad it is unwatchable. About only the movies and a few TOS episodes are watchable.
Peter Arentsen,
I’ll bite. What’s the minimal acceptable bar that you are using for comparison? And in which of its 1960s contemporaries did you find the acting to be mostly acceptable to superior?
That isnt true actually. TOS acting was far superior to all of Enterprise and most of Voyager.
Jesus will you give it a rest already. Dude you repeat this 20 times a thread. OMG, its just you sitting in your underwear watching these shows, we get it, we don’t need it repeated over and over again. No one cares.
@ Tiger – yet it’s strange how you seem to care enough to keep getting your own undies in an uproar over my posts, my concerned friend. Too bad if my personal ‘alternate’ Trek canon offends you, but it’s only an opinion. Relax.
The Enterprise theme song is dumb (though it has kind of grown on me over the years) but that’s no reason to dislike the show. The show is really good.
Legate Damar,
True confession: For the longest time, I have struggled to come to some understanding of the Rod Stewart style and covers of it in performing a song. Just didn’t care for it. But like you somewhere along the way it grew on me in that it doesn’t upset me like it would. I didn’t mind ENTERPRISE’s song and lyrics so much but that style of performing the song [I won’t dignify it by calling it “singing”.], especially when STAR TREK reminds me of those melodious dulcet operatic tones voiced in the first series’ Courage theme, just grated on me too. But I have to confess if someone really tries they can probably, these days, catch me singing “It’s been a long…” as part of my repertoire of mindless singing while doing manual labor.
Disinvited Today 5:22 am
My reaction to the ENT theme was exactly the same as yours. Even when I re-watch the series, I don’t care for the theme and then somewhere along the way, after I’ve come to get comfortable with the characters and the show, the theme song manages to work its way under my skin. Here’s the original, Rod Stewart, version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nanaT3u2Lzw
I actually really enjoyed the ENT theme song and felt it captured the spirit of what the show was *supposed* to be. Unfortunately, they were a collection of terribly untalented writers and barely able actors and the show fell apart pretty quickly.
It is exciting to have a new Trek show and while I know people hate it being on ALL Access the reality is it probably fees them up creatively and financially than ever before because its not directly competing with anything and because its been sold to Netflix which I’m costing they paid through the nose they will probably keep paying through the news to keep it running for at least a few seasons so its going to be exciting to have a new Trek show to binge whenever we want. Hopefully its good though lol.
Tiger,
Re:”…people hate it being on ALL Access the reality is it probably fees them up creatively and financially than ever before …”
That has to be the most accurate typo that I’ve ever seen, i.e. “fees them up”
LOL! True.
Bu hey I spent a total of $45 to watch Beyond twice, which I thought was just OK lol. I will happily spend $20 for 13 episodes of the show just as long as its good!
Well, they have a token Roddenberry to represent the “vision”. I just hope and pray they have a “Bob Justman” or “Gene Coon” among them to keep the heads grounded and the stories good.
Their names are Bryan Fuller and Nicholas Meyer. :)
No thanks. Both of those guys were awful. Give me Michael Piller, or Ira Steven Behr, please.
Exactly. They had just as much to do with the success of the show as anyone. Coon contributed so much to Trek lore (Federation, Klingons, prime directive)
I’m sure this will be great, although I’m personally a bit worried about the serialized, chapter-by-chapter format that they are going to introduce. I still love the episodic format of TOS, TNG and most of ENT and I was hoping for a compromise á la NuWho, where you have a underlying storyarc still allowing for individual episodes.
Nonetheless, I’m so happy Trek will be back on “TV” soon, especially now that the Kelvin timeline might come to an abrupt end with Beyond bombing miserably…
Yeah I hear you. I love DS9 for its serialized nature but I don’t have an issue if the stories are more episodic, as a lot of DS9 really was. It really wasn’t until 5th season it became more connected, most stories are actually standalone but yes they are telling a bigger story in the background too. I would like for Discovery to be that way but after watching Fuller’s Hannibal for 3 season and especially the last 2 seasons where its much more serialized I have a feeling we are going to get a really connected story. Which is great if its good.
And yeah with Beyond crashing at the BO we couldnt get a show at a better time. Can you imagine if it bombed and it was ONLY these movies, Trek fans would feel like they were limbo again not knowing what was next or if there even was a next. At least we have this show to look forward to and hope the movie stuff works itself out in time. No matter what we probably were going to wait 3-4 years for the next one anyway.
You can certainly have your cake and eat it too as DS9 showed. It doesnt have to be Soap Opera format…its just a matter of something that happens in Episode 12 impacts Episode 13. Character development and such. personally, I dont mind if they make it very serialized in the vein of a two parter but thats just me.
Some amazing stuff is going with serial dramas (Stranger Things) – they can still have semi-individual episodes.
How the USS Discovery could look like:
http://www.galacticempire.org/2016/03/star-trek-uss-edward-teller-nx-27cln.html
I’ve seen this before and it is indeed a great-looking design. Unlike the one we seem to be getting.
Its a nice version of a terrible design.
*STD
DSC we don’t call Voyager STV or Enterprise STE.
STD is probably going to stick. lol
Not if you pee right away.