Latest ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Promo Explores “Where No One Has Gone Before” [UPDATED w/ Analysis]

This morning CBS released another web promo on Twitter. Titled “Fortune Favors the Bold,” this one emphasizes exploration and has a good amount of new footage in it so it is worth a watch.

NOTE: Video is region-locked to USA only. Click here for video on Instagram which is unlocked.

UPDATE: Analysis of new shots and dialog

The TrekMovie team have combed through the new promo and identified 13 new shots not seen in previous trailers or promos, along with some new dialog.

Michael Burnham (Sonequa-Martin Green) emerges from U.S.S. Shenzhou on EV suit

Wider shot of the Burnham outside the Shenzhou as we hear her activate the suit’s communicator (which sounds very much like Star Trek: The Next Generation communicator chirp)

Dialog: “This is commander Burnham, commencing reconnaissance mission.”

Close-up of bridge console being used on Federation ship (possibly USS Europa)

Wide shot from presumably the same bridge

Close-up of Burnham as we hear suit’s computer countdown: “Thruster ignition in 3, 2, 1…”

Lt. Saru (Doug Jones) and Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) on bridge of U.S.S. Discovery. Voiceover: “You are explorers…you chose to go where no one has gone before.”

U.S.S. Shenzhou captain Phillipa Georgiou firing a phaser rifle on alien planet

Michael Burnham explores an alien structure

Burnham says “wow” as she continues to explore

Lorca slides across the deck, phaser rifle at the ready

Cadet Tilly says “This is so cool!”

Lorca speaking to another Starfleet captain says “Fortune favors the bold.” (Note: hair seems to match officer seen in bridge shot from earlier in trailer and not Capt. Georgiou)

 

Star Trek: Discovery premieres on September 24th on CBS with all subsequent episodes on CBS All Access in the US.  In Canada Star Trek: Discovery will premiere  on Bell Media’s CTV and the Space Channel on the same night. Netflix will launch Star Trek: Discovery on Monday, September 25 to countries outside of the U.S. and Canada.

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Stupid region blocking! When will CBS learn.

Videos are ALWAYS available to other regions within minutes, an hour at most, these days. When will the whiners learn?

Of course they are, which is the whole point I’m trying to make. If you’re using audience figures, number of views, to look at success and reach of product, having others gain your clicks isn’t a very clever thing to do.

When will whiners wining about whiny posts learn?

Weak, kid. By all means, keep whining and rationalizing. It’s amusing to watch.

Wait… Whiners wining about whiny posts? huh?

Meh

I am able to watch in Canada on youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gw6V9fKLzc

Looks great!!!

Thank you from a fellow Canuck

Looks great. Is it wrong of me to wonder if Lorca ends up stealing the show….

Originally I was horrified that the thought that Michelle Yoeh would not be the Captain for the entire run given her awesomeness but Lorca has me sold in the trailers that a “cowboy Captain” in a contrast with a straight and narrow Captain, is way more Wagon Train to the Stars and I’m on board. That being said hope to see lots of Yoeh (even though I think the Shenzhou will not make it past the first two episodes).

Agreed. Yeoh is great. And would be a good counter-point to Lorca given what we know (which might not be correct anyway). But I suppose Sarek could be the counter point to Lorca if Yoeh’s character is not long for the series (which I also suspect).

I like Burnham but admit some of her delivery seems wooden and uninspired. And that might be on purpose (raised by Vulcans) where she shows greater range of emotion at various times. But Lorca just comes across as cool. Definitely a Kirk-esque flair to him. But its always more fun to be a bit of a bad guy

Well Michelle Yeoh is (still/again) in Toronto as per her Instagram, so she might live a bit longer than we all thought..

Hmm, I don’t know. There’s something about Michelle Yeoh’s/Georgious accent that just puts me off. At least from the trailers, reserve further judgement until I’ve seen the pilot.

You mean her native Malaysian accent?

Thank you for posting that link!

Watching it in the UK

That sure sounded like a TNG-era communicator chirp at the start of the clip! The space suit sequence looks awesome from what we’ve seen, reminds me of Spock’s V’Ger trip.

That countdown (5..4..3..2..) definitely looks homage to Spock’s V’Ger trip (i.e. AWESWOME!)

Wasnt there another clip that showed the handheld communicator opening? Was it closer to the TOS chirp?

I like that they’d use the TNG style if they needed a “new” sound. Makes sense to use something from the franchise. I wonder if sound is one way they will get “closer” to TOS as we go, as they stated.

If I recall, the red alert sound was similar to TOS and the graphic from the TOS films…?

They would have to be crazy from a marketing perspective to not use the iconic red alert from TOS or the communicator chirp. For some reason those are just memorable sounds. That being said, my favorite alert klaxon was the ST:TMP/ST:TWOK klaxon (which for some strange reason was removed from ST:TMP Directors edition??) and if they want something different they should look to something like that. Also you have to love the “Red Alert” display from ST:TMP/ST:TWOK despite the fact that the blinking red light is probably more iconic. For some reason one watches one or two episodes of TOS and you just have that Red Alert and communicator chirp drilled into your mind. Something special there – it would be a huge marketing mistake not to use them.

The director’s version of TMP really SERIOUSLY trashed the whole sound effects track in a lot of places, especially the wormhole and then again when the ship gets tractored in by VGER, where they pretty much wiped out the computer voice.

Sorry, but I happen to greatly prefer the sound design in the Director’s Cut (e.g. the red alert klaxon and the computer voice) to the theatrical version.

Wow, even folks who like the rest of the DC usually frown on the way the alert sounds during the w’hole … ah well, I guess dif opinions make for good horseracing!

Side note, I don’t think I’m going to be doing that DISCOVERY VFX story after all. It has been over three months and CBS hasn’t come through with a single interview, and in fact, they haven’t even replied to my last few emails or ANY of my phone calls.

Not having any luck with getting anywhere on the ORVILLE story either, which does tick me off. When you get a definitive-sounding, “I’ll have an answer for you within 24 hrs,” and then get NOTHING for five weeks, it really doesn’t come off like you’re even dealing with professionals, let alone folks with major positions at Fox going back a decade or more.

Sorry to hear that as I was looking forward to reading your coverage. But I have a good friend who wrote occasionally for the likes of CFQ and Starlog, and I definitely got the sense that it isn’t something you do to get rich or to avoid frustration. :-)

Well, it’s a ‘second job’ but one that has in recent years earned more gross $ than my main one, (except the main has seriously needed health bennies for my wife and I.)

I actually had an inquiry from CFQ about writing for them in the late 90s, maybe about a year or so before Clarke killed himself, and it is practically the only time I ever turned down a legit gig because the money was too bad. I did a very tiny sidebar piece for the revamped CFQ several years later, but the money was a little better (though I wonder about that one, because when a check finally arrived months and months late, it was written on the editor’s checking account, not the magazine’s, which seemed a little odd.) That incarnation of CFQ didn’t last much longer as I recall.

By comparison, I started with Cinefex in 1990 at 50 cents per line, but seven years later I was getting $4500 (plus full travel expenses) for their story on CONTACT, which was pretty decent money in my mind — not TV GUIDE dollar-a-word-plus, but nothing to sneeze at either. I should have stayed freelance rather than going on-staff the next year!

Your conclusion about the ‘frustration’ factor being pretty awful with this work is absolutely dead-on, considering the number of stories that fall out for the damnedest reasons. I’d say the more you actually WANT to do a story, the better chance there is that it will not happen. It’s almost like enthusiasm is a drawback.

Somebody I hadn’t heard from before at CBS did get back to me late last night saying they were still considering doing the story, but the magazine — which already postponed coverage from the fall TV issue to the winter one to accommodate CBS — really needed to lock in that winter issue, so they have elected to move on. I’ll let you know if CBS wants to proceed with me for another mag or if I just move on as well.

Great, thanks. I’ve always liked the way CINEFEX covers this sort of thing.

Most likely preliminary sound effects. The sound editing is probably still in progress.

Is it wrong if i’m getting a major excitement atack? Lorca is looking better by the minute! Or by every promo they release :)

It’s not wrong from where I’m sitting!

Not wrong at all! Be as excited as you can be, and don’t let anyone’s negativity (including mine in other posts) change your feelings. I remember getting to be excited for TNG’s premiere 30 years ago, despite the older Trekkies grouching about it, so ENJOY THIS EXCITEMENT! :)

Lorca is going to be a kickass Captain!

Lorca is going to be the ‘Eddard Stark’ of Star Trek: Discovery. He’ll be dead by the end of the first season.

I could see them doing something like that since it really hasn’t happened in a Trek show before; though I tend to view those kinds of stunt deaths negatively (Kirk in Generations still leaves a sour taste).

Then again, fandom can be fickle and hard to predict. If, as the season progresses, TPTB discover that the people they thought would be driving the show maybe aren’t resonating with viewers they way they thought they would, would they do a course correction with where the characters end up?

My speculation is the big “death” happens earlier and is not Lorca. But its certainly possible. And its fine if it serves the story organically.

I remember so many being outraged at Stark’s death, and it seemed like a crazy thing to do but it ended up being the catalyst for everything else to come in GoT.

GRRM seems to almost take a kind of perverse pleasure in refusing to give the audience what it thinks it wants, as opposed to what the story needs. If Discovery does half so well I’ll be a happy camper.

It looks like Lorca is more of a “Roose Bolton” figure — the personality and demeanour — but maybe the Klingons do behead him in the season 1 finale. A few months ago a behind-the-scenes photo was released showing a mask of Isaacs’ head. Perhaps Burnham ends up commanding the Discovery from season 2 onwards, and that’s how it happens.

The “shock Ned Stark death” probably involves a different character and occurs during the first few episodes of season 1.

If all this really does happen, it’s also a sign the DSC team is giving away too much in trailers, interviews and tweets. It shouldn’t be possible to predict storylines this easily.

Like a lot of people here, I think I’m going to love Lorca. Maybe he will have the same pimp hand like Kirk and Sisko did. ;)

Has there been any news on number of seasons everyone is contracted for?

As much as Burnham is the lead for now…Lorca just jumps off the screen the most…

Same. I’m not getting a sympathetic vibe from Burnham. In fact, I’m not getting any emotion from her. My feeling is that it’s coming from the writing and not from SMG, though, so I’m willing to wait and see

That said, to me for now at least, Lorca as a character runs rings around Burnham.

Well, they have hinted that Burnham is having some difficulty adjusting between human and Vulcan society. Maybe that explains the lack of emotion you feel. It’s also possible that SMG just needs some time to get into the role. TNG had some pretty wooden performances in the beginning.

I was thinking the same thing. We might see her deliberately wooden. it would make sense, actually.

It’s also possible that people are forming judgements based on way too little data. I think that’s the best possibility, actually.

Wow. Looks awful. CBS is going to be very disappointed in this one. Every single line of dialogue I’ve heard from this show is a stale cliche. Just terrible.

CBS was so disappointed that they decided to extend the first season to 15 episodes to get even more of that terrible dialogue.

hahaha yeah, the poster acts like CBS doesnt get to see the show until it airs. lol

Yeah. CBS must be poppin’ Xanax like Skittles over this venture. ;-)

And they asked extra terrible dialogue for the last two, to make it really worth it. :-P

“Every single line of dialogue I’ve heard from this show is a stale cliche”
What do you expect, they are all promos and trailers.

If they really wanted to sell the show they’d find some more interesting things to say in these promos. I agree completely that all the dialogue I’ve heard thus far has been lame and poorly acted. Fingers crossed it’s just a trailer thing.

If you want stale and banal dialogue, I’ll direct you to season 1 of TNG.

Last picture: Yes hair matches but the woman has captain/(admiral?) stripes on shoulders, yes?

I wonder if the lady in the final shot with Lorca is Captain Georgiou? I do believe it has been confirmed that Michelle is in all 15 episodes.

So you’re suggesting a promotion? Which explains why members of her crew move on? That is very possible.

Well, the TNG-like communicator chirp might be a preliminary sound effect. Always remember that the first trailer for TWOK featured phasers using Star Wars blaster sound effects and S1/2 episodic promos for TNG would usually use a phaser sound effect whenever ANY sort of beam was shown (no matter if energy weapon or tractor beam, they would all go “VRZEEESSH!”)

As the show premieres in 3 weeks they should have designed the final sound effects by now. But the marketing department may still just have thrown in whatever effect they had on file.

Well, there’s an editing process associated with the promos as well. This one might’ve been in the can for weeks or months. And a TV show is not a movie. They can still be in the process of post-production even days before an episode airs.

Sure, they can work on post-production until the last minute. But I would expect that important, recurring sound effects such as a communicator sound have been designed by now. By the way: Since Netflix releases Discovery internationally one day after the US premiere, does anybody know whether this will be the English version everywhere or whether they will already have versions dubbed into foreign languages?

“Fortune favors the bold” is an interesting and possibly quite telling quote. It’s Pliny the Elder before setting off on his voyage to save Pompeii survivors. His ships saved possibly half of the population, but he himself died on the beach.

It’s also what Ben Sisko said before they went to retake the station.

It was also on the NX-02’s mission patch as Audentes Fortuna Juvat.

Looks like the ‘other’ captain is at the conn in the earlier pic so maybe she tries to go down with the ship and crashing it into the Klingons and then gets beamed out in time.

That lady that we see Lorca talking to and see the back of head (same hair style) staring out the main viewer must be Wendy Crewson’s Admiral character. I saw a video moments ago on YouTube where she tells the interviewer she’s doing several episodes where she bosses everyone around. That USS Europa scene might be spliced in the trailer from a later episode

More dull, simplistic, pedestrian dialogue. “Wow.” “This is so cool.” “Fortune favors the bold.”

If this is any indication of the writing quality on the actual show, it’s in trouble. My optimism is waning with each new promo.

Because it’s a freaking promo!?? Why is this complicated for you?

For you I will request that as of now, all dialogue in Trek series is done Shakesperean style. And as you know, Trek is known most for it’s dialogues that rival the best of the literary standards. Moan moan, whine whine. As said in Dexter’s Lab: That’s all you can say, that’s all you can say!

@Bert, go troll someone else. I’ve read enough of your blather around here to know that you aren’t contributing anything of value to conversations, so you have no room to sneer at my comment. Nor is “moan moan, whine whine” all I can say. Most of my comments about DSC have been hopeful and optimistic, including others ON THIS SAME ARTICLE, so stuff your sneering crap, trollboy.

Ziplock, learn to read. I very clearly said “If this is any indication of the writing quality on the actual show…” See, that means that IF the “freaking promo!??” writing is an indication of the ACTUAL SHOW’s quality, it’s in trouble. If NOT (a possibility that is implied in the word “if”–again, basic reading comprehension)then we don’t have to worry.

Nothing complicated about it. I used basic English, yet you still couldn’t grasp it. Sounds like your problem, not mine.

I’m waiting for the actual show to pass final judgement, but I agree about the dialog. So far, it feels almost cartoonish. Or rather, it reminds me of another franchise (‘Attack of the Clones’, anyone?).

You know what moment in this sold me? Cadet Tilly saying “this is so cool!” Why? Because it suggested that there might be some FUN on this show. Everything looks so edgy and dark and serious and important, and sometimes it’s good to have it be fun and full of…discovery.

“You know what moment in this sold me? Cadet Tilly saying “this is so cool!”

Sorry, to suggest that our slang of the past 50 years is going to be around and relevant in 300 years is just a bit much. Nothing dates a movie faster than the slang they use (or the type of cell phone lol) So, as Roddenberry so wisely decided, it’s best to leave such vernacular out of the dialogue.

So much for conventional wisdom.
I can hear it now…

Cpt. Lorca
“Those are my instructions, ensign. Peace out.”

Ugh.

And yet those Abrams movies you adore are chockablock with contemporary slang, no matter how much it trashes our sense of the character. I don’t know cadet Tilly and thus have no issues with her saying “cool,” but I do have a real problem with the formerly dignified Nyota Uhura brushing off an obnoxious jerk by implying that he has sex with farm animals. Ugh, indeed.

I have no problem with the farm animals…nutrek Nyota has poor taste, what can I say. That’s at least more development than Uhura ever had in TOS! lol I DID however, have huge issues with more tossing about, of the kool-kid-vernacular, when she told Spock, in Into Darkness, before he goes into the Volcano…a great, adrenaline pumping scene…”You got this.” Ugh.
As far as the other modern references the movies were allegedly riddled with, according to you, I don’t even recall. You’ll have to enlighten me, then I can tell you if I loved it or not. Sure would be nice to enjoy the 23rd century without dating it with modern slang. Sloppy sloppy sloppy.
Thank God Chekov or Sulu never uttered the word “Groovy” or “Far out” in TOS. You want to eat it up in Discovery, have at it. If you like your “TreK’, lowered a bar or two, peppered with cliched pedestrian writing, that’s your business…you don’t mind it, I get that…still doesn’t make it good.

Of course you had no problem with the farm animals, though that was as lowbrow and vulgar an exchange as has ever been seen in any iteration of Trek. And yet, on the basis of a couple of characters in a trailer being given completely innocuous things to say like “wow” and “cool”–heavens!–I should already be prepared to write this show off as dumbed-down Trek, a lead balloon destined for some kind of spectacular fail. You’ll forgive me if I find that hysterically over-the-top.

And no, I’m not eating anything up for the obvious reason that nothing has been served yet. But I’ll make you this promise: if an episode of DSC ever serves up a line of dialogue so insipid and illiterate as referring to the Federation as a “peace-keeping armada,” it’ll be my last. Count on it.

…with any luck, maybe you’ll get a “neat-o!” or 2 from Captain Lorca! And maybe a ‘that’s rad!” for good measure! Yeah!! Star Trek is back! Ain’t it swell?

Yeah, sure. Both of those are actually more akin to McCoy-isms like “What the blazes is going on?”, which in truth very few people would have employed even in 1968. But by all means, go on picking nits if you think that’s the best use of your time.

Never heard it uttered by anyone but Mccoy…I think Kirk may have said it as well. I know WHY they had to say it, but in changing it for the censors, they created something unique to the 23rd century. For me anyway. It never took me out of the story because I had ever heard it…be it from relatives, friends or TV or movies. It was as unique to me as Spock using “affirmative” as yes. Helped define the character of McCoy. Who knows, maybe Cadet Tilly is a study of american history…

By ‘formerly dignified’ I assume you mean before she danced naked to lure a group of men away?

Heh. Point to Ashley, for sure. Guess I’d blocked that one out (as, I presume, does Ms. Nichols. But that wasn’t really representative of the character, was it?

…in that Uhura wouldn’t do whatever is necessary to get the job done? They needed a diversion, mission accomplished. From what we saw in the series, she was not shy and loved to flirt…also loved performing. Whatever you’ve read in reams of fan fiction doesn’t apply…she hardly had enough “hailing frequencies open” to determine whether her ‘dignified’ character would do it or not. And since she DID do it…speculation is all rather moot at this point.

You’ll have to discuss that one with Ms. Nichols. She hated that scene, but like a good trooper went ahead and did it anyway.

I think that was a different “Mata Hari” situation, rather like Beverly Crusher acting oversexed with that Ferengi in “Chain of Command.” It was not how Uhura behaves in an everyday fashion. I agree with OP that JJ Abrams does not understand Uhura.

Sounds a bit stuffy. Maybe you’re a bigger TNG fan that you realize, jonboc.

…there’s no reason to get ugly! lol

“Cool” has been around for approximately 100 years (give or take)… so it is entirely possible to be around in another 100 or 200.

Maybe, none of us have a time machine to know for sure. But I can say with 100% certainty, that if they had NOT used it, not I or anyone else would make that instantaneous association with Fonzie, hipster teenagers, beatnicks or any other not-so-futuristic connotation the word might bring to mind.
Some don’t notice it, but clearly, some did. Thing is, if they didn’t use it at all, no one would notice. That’s the safe path to travel, a thought that apparently never crossed the writer’s mind, or it did and was “over-ruled” by the majority…which is even more cause for concern. No way did Nick Meyer have any part of “That’s so cool.” When and if he read it, he probably choked more than I did.

According to one article found in a 5 second google search, the first noted reference to “cool” in the “hip” sense was in 1894.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/cool_story/2013/10/cool_the_etymology_and_history_of_the_concept_of_coolness.html

The etymology of slang has always been fascinating. SF writer Joe Haldeman was once researching the background for a story which took place in the 1860s, and was surprised to discover that his characters could theoretically call a policeman a pig, or use the expression “take a back seat to.”

AVATAR took place in 2152, and the lead character using “cool” to describe the mind-transfer tech didn’t take me out of the story at all.

Think about where the F work came from. It’s been around a long long time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuck

Ummm… it was used before that… 1950s…. hello?

Not to mention it was used in the early 40s used synonymous with Jazz music.

Actually, Nick Meyer’s Trek has always been peppered with anachronisms. I doubt very much that he’d have a problem with that line at all, though anything’s possible.

Wow are you ever narrow minded. “That’s cool” is exclamation of awe.

I guess you are “too good” to have ever used that word. And I guess you don’t use it now because you don’t people to associate you with Fonzie or a hipster.

Laughing at your comment “cause for concern…” because they used the phrase “that’s cool”. Oh brother! Now THAT’S funny!

Swell! Enjoy your cool Starfleet dudes and their hip, relatable dialogue. I’ll just continue to cringe at the bad writing. ‘In it to win it!’ lol

And you can enjoy Orville with it’s fart jokes and juvenile humor.

If “Cool” immediately connects you to Fonzie, then you’re either being stubborn or dating yourself. I remember Happy Days as a kid, but “cool” certainly is not a Fonzie thing now, nor was it throughout my youth. Everyone used “cool”.

Its a silly argument.

“The phrase “That is so cool,” has probably been in our every day vocabulary for over half a century. The notion that it could survive till the 23rd century is not as unbelievable as it sounds- “Peace out,” is at least 30 years old. I’m going to be 51, and I remember saying both those phrases when I was a kid.

This is entirely irrelevant. In 300 years you would scarcely understand the words these people say. You can check by reading up on the evolution of the English language. Now with globalization and interstellar travel, the notion that people in the 23rd century would actually speak English you can understand is so dumb it beggars belief. Thus all of your anger at contemporary language are mute.

No anger, just observation. Dating your 23rd century, futuristic science fiction with with current slang is just piss-poor writing and demonstrates a decided lack of forethought to future-proof your material.

Thats pretty dumb. Why would the word not be around in the 23rd century? Plenty of contemporary words have been used on Star Trek.

“Cool” is particularly ubiquitous. If was wiped out from existence, that would not bother me. The fact it hasnt been doesnt bother me at all.

Why wouldn’t the slang be around in 300 years?
The same reason we don’t hear “TANTWIVY”, describing going full speed…or “TAPLASH”, you’re drinking thick, bad-tasting beer. Or if you’re lying about it, telling us all a little “TARADIDDLE”.

To use a slang-term so immediately identifiable to certain aspects of the 20th century was just foolish. Hell, even TOS had sense enough to avoid it even when dealing with space hippies. At least they created their own 23rd century slang…like “”we reach” and “herbert”. That’s how you do it. If you want a term that is slang for “awesome” in the 23rd century, make one up. Then pepper it throughout the series’ run, used by different characters. Audiences will get it and they wont be taken out of the moment and dragged into the past, with images of beatnicks and Fonzie dancing in their heads.

For God’s sake. She’s a cadet in her twenties–a kid, really–expressing wonder/joy/amazement/pleasure, and you find it unrealistic that she used the word “cool,” because it’s the future and no one would possibly do that.

By all means, stick with the farm animals.

INT. STARFLEET ACADEMY CLASSROOM –DAY*

ADMIRAL DUNSEL: So, by using this technique you can realign the dilithium matrix without risk of crystal fracture. Comments? Cadet Tilley?

CADET TILLEY: Very cool, sir.

DUNSEL: Cool? (Mocking). KEEWELL!!! Well, Cadet, while I appreciate your technical expertise I’ll remind you that this is a course in warp field theory, not a class in surfing. Do I make myself clear?

TILLEY: Yes, sir. (To classmate, whispering). What an a$$hole!

DUNSEL: What was that, Cadet? I didn’t quite get that!

TILLEY: Black hole, sir. How do you realign the matrix in the gravimetric field of a black hole?

*h/t to Brian de Palma’s CARRIE.

So you’re saying because *some* expressions and words have fallen out of favour means this particular word will too? That makes very little sense.

At what point will it fall out of favour? Its, what, 100 years old or so? So when will it fall out of favour?

We know after WWIII they still liked booze and rock and roll from the 60’s or whatever. So why would “cool” fall out of favour?

It might. But its certainly not weird for it not too. Its really widely used.

It’s 2258, and we still worship The Fonz. Count on it.

“This is so cool!!”

Are you kidding me?? Ugh. This thing is sinking like a lead balloon and it hasn’t even aired yet.

I have to agree.

This isn’t a “it’s not really canon!” observation. It’s more common sense. For example: why would the set designers opt for bright lights to draw the viewers’ eyes away from the actors themselves?!

There are so many more examples… So unfortunate, given the talented people who were hired to work on DSC.

Clearly the production people have no idea what they’re doing. They must not know their jobs very well. They should have come here and asked for advice first.

LOL

“Oh shit” exits in the 24th century but “cool” being used in the 23rd century is the end game for you?

Oh, believe me, “Oh Shit” was even more juvenille in it’s execution. But I soured on TNG looong before that. That “funny” shit line, along with the “funny” life forms song, boob flotation devices and a “rock-n-Roller” Cochrane was just rancid icing on an already moldy cake. Who knows, maybe I’ll love Discovery, in spite of it…so far there are only 3 things in the “win” column for this series, and that’s the phaser, communicator and Nick Meyer. The music is an unknown, so I’m still hoping for something there…we’ll see.

This trailer looks very Star Trek! I can’t wait!

At last, someone is smiling!

Am I the only one for whom the audio is futzed up? Every time I play the video, it sounds like Sonequa Martin is saying “This is Commander URNAM” (i.e., I can’t hear the “B” sound at the beginning of her character’s surname). Very annoying.

OK this is weird… the region-locked version embedded on this page appears to have a slight “skip” in the audio right when Sonequa says her character’s last name, but on the Instagram version of the video, there is no skip and she says “Burnham” with the “B”.

Very odd! But in any event, I’m getting super-excited for the premiere!

Sisko said it better, but can’t wait for the 24th. Give it a shot ya’ll.

Looks amazing. Renting a theater here in Mexico on the 25th that projects Netflix. Gonna watch the first 2 episodes on the big screen 2 times. So. Damn. Excited.

The Discovery bridge set seems to have some design influences from the Enterprise-E bridge set. Interesting.

Between her exposure from The Walking Dead, and now Star Trek Discovery, Sonequa-Martin Green is going to be worth a fortune by the turn of the decade- providing Discovery succeeds. Last night, I was thinking about Michelle Yeough’s role, and how it “appears” to be short-lived. I thought, ‘What a waste of such an amazing talent. Her Kung Fu moves would make her the most defensively capable Captain since Kirk took on the Gorn.
Then it occurred to me: maybe the-powers-that-be aren’t wasting her talent. Nicholas Myers is reportedly working on a ‘second’ Star Trek pilot that will either replace Discovery if it fails to deliver with CBS: All Access, or run in conjunction with Discovery.
Maybe Captain Georgio is being introduced as the captain of the second show. It would explain all the promo’s and hype of her character- even though she is slated to either die, or be captured for an extended period of time. (Production reports have her slated for only 3 episodes in the 1st season.)
Now, It could be the powers-that-be are using her film notoriety to attract subscribers, but I believe it’s more than that.
Think about it: Wouldn’t you love to see Michelle Yeough kicking Romulan butt every week?
This is just wishful thinking on my part, but I truly hope it turns out to be reality.

Until Discovery is a success, which I expect, all the spinoff talk is just that, talk

It was a mistake to have two Trek series airing at the same time in the late 1990s. It oversaturated the market. CBS understands this and is not going to make that mistake again. We’ll probably see more movies concurrently with Discovery, and a miniseries of some sort isn’t inconceivable, but not two weekly shows.

Assuming Discovery is a success, which I think it will be, I do expect a seventh series after Discovery’s run wraps up, however.

Is Marvel oversaturating the market now? That’s up for debate. I personally don’t follow Marvel religiously, so I haven’t seen most of the movies that come out twice a year, or Agents of Shield, or Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, etc. But Marvel is everywhere all the time, and from what I can see the fans are reveling.

I dont think it over-saturated. Voyager was a poor replacement for TNG. But Voy, DS9 and TNG all ran 7 seasons so we can accept them as successful.

Plus, the business model is now very different. CBS might be interested in a second series to keep interest in All Access high throughout the year, much like how AMC has two Walking Dead series’ airing at different times.

@The River Temarc — CBS is a co-owner of the CW. There are currently 4 DC superhero series on the air right now, with more on the way. In addition, there are several new DC series being prepped for release soon on other networks. That’s a lot of DC, not to mention what’s on the big screen. There’s also two related vampire shows on the CW. If Les Moonves ever was worried about a franchise over-saturating the market, he certainly isn’t now. Also, you proceed from the standpoint that there’s some kind of franchise “fatigue” at play which ultimately led to the cancellation of the franchise on TV — when it’s likely nothing could be farther from the truth.

Hopefully DSC does contain better dialogue than what we’ve heard so far. Not exactly Game of Thrones or Black Sails heights of eloquence, is it?

Also agree that the “This is so cool!” part was not the best idea; it would be like Chekov in TOS exclaiming “Groooovy!” Plus it comes across like something from Agents of Shield.

But hey, there’s still plenty of stuff to get everyone excited, and so far DSC is showing a lot of promise. So it’s better to wait until the show actually airs before jumping to too many negative conclusions. The “fortune favours the bold” remark was a nice shout-out to Sisko and DS9 fans too.

For people rightfully impressed by Jason Isaacs, I recommend checking him out in the American Revolution movie “The Patriot”. Incredibly charismatic as the main villain. And as a bonus, the film also stars our very own Odo in a major role.

I sort of chuckled at the “cool” line. Although “cool” is far more ubiquitous than “groovy”. I guess “cool” survives the next few hundred years.

As someone who has always prized his love affair with the English language, I just can’t understand all the angst over this use of “cool.” I honestly don’t get it. And no, there’s no comparison with “groovy,” which is uniquely identified with the ’60s and departed common usage as quickly as bell-bottomed jeans. “Cool,” by contrast, is still used by English-speaking people in 2017 all the time.

I recall a minor attempt to revive groovy in the 90’s. I cant recall what it was, maybe some sort of microsoft program that had Jennifer Aniston as a spokesperson where she remarked that it was “groovy”.

Clearly, it did not stick.

“Cool” is really common and as others have said, dates back a long time.

I hope the same people complaining about a lack of fun in these promos arent the ones also complaining about the cadet using “cool” in a sort of excited wide-eyed manner.

And in response to the final thought of your last post, I say, COOL!

Anyone else notice that the show is rated “TV MA”?

From the TV Guidelines site:

“TV MA: This program is specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17. This program may contain one or more of the following: crude indecent language (L), explicit sexual activity (S), or graphic violence (V).”

This has been discussed before. The trailer is rated TV MA. Not necessarily the show. A series can have an overall rating, while individual episodes can be addressed accordingly. Motion Picture films often have multiple trailers rated for different audiences to advertise to the applicable demographic which may be eligible for both. TNG aired ling before the current parent friendly ratings system, however there were several episodes I would have rated TV MA. One in particular was “Conspiracy” which depicted and alien bursting forth from a person’s body, and other graphic scenes of violence. At the time, the broadcasters only means to deal with this was to edit the episode. A warning was aired prior to it in Canada and it was banned by the BBC.

“Conspiracy” scarred me as a child, haha. I still hate mealworms because of it. I saw it when I was VERY young and my parents were in the other room, not realizing which episode of Star Trek it was.

That said, I don’t think the rating is for the trailer; it’s for the show. Granted, it would be for the pilot episode, not the series as a whole, as episodes are rated individually. But it’s still something that gives me pause for the direction/tone of the series. TV 14 is the equivalent of a theatrical PG-13, more or less, while TV MA is the equivalent of a theatrical R (with more restrictions, I would presume).

First time I’ve noticed a tag line saying “•Season 1• Exclusively on CBS All Access” (bullets added)… is this new? If so does anyone thing this sounds like CBS hedging their bets re CBS All Access?

@Chuck — not sure why you’d read anything like that into it. CBS could change its mind about CBSAA at anytime. No reason to suggest it won’t be around in a year. It just means if you want to watch DISC, you’ll have to do it on CBSAA. It may also suggest that Season 1 will eventually move to Netflix as many series do in order to attract an audience for Season 2, which again may be exclusive to CBSAA. It may also go into broadcast or cable syndication as well, but the initial airings will only be available through CBSAA, for at least the duration between one season and the next. That’s my take away.

That officer with the short dark hair could be Keyla Detmer, she’s sat in the helm position and she is going to be the Shenzhou’s helm officer, plus to the right of the picture you can see a second console (probably the navigator’s station based on ship bridge designs for this era).

Lorca is the only character so far that has screen presence (based on the scenes CBS has let us see so far). It’s really kind of a shame that his character is most likely going to end-up a disgraced captain with major ethical issues followed by his demise. That’s my gut feeling.

Yeah, they should stop making this silly Burnham character the lead and focus on Lorca instead. He looks much more interesting.

Yes, these folks obviously know jack about producing their own show. Good thing there’s an inexhaustible supply of nerdish kibbutzing to set them straight!

“Kibitzing.” Kibbutzing would be to go join a farming collective… oy! again with the Klingons!

This member of the tribe appreciates the correction. :-)

We really have no idea about the characters. From the little real information in these promos, lack of screeners made available to reviewers and cone of silence essentially placed over everything including a warning not to read the book before the premiere, we can surmise there are surprises they are trying to avoid.

So…with that in mind as much as I also like Lorca, we really have no idea. One actor already predicted Tilly would be the break out star. We havent seen much of most of the characters.

These promos really are telling us nothing. That’s probably ok.

I am guessing that after the first episode, which is broadcast, we are going to think one main idea/takeaway and that for those who watch the second episode, and start writing and talking about it, we are going to see something completely unexpected that upends what we think we know. This should make us “need” to sign up and see everything up to the end of the first half of he season. That’s the equivalent in episodes to Stranger Things’ first season. Even in DS9 the stakes stayed at a similar level, episode to episode. This will be different.

Incidentally, Babylon 5 is streaming for he first time, I never saw it when it was on and I can’t stop. That is making me think hard about why/how and mechanics of epic and long form storytelling.

B5 isn’t without its flaws, but is a landmark series nevertheless, and not just for SF. Enjoy. In case you didn’t know, there’s a major change in the cast after the first season. I heard JMS talk about the reasons behind that at LOSCON a few years ago, and it was one of the saddest stories I’ve ever heard.

I read a little about it. Trying to watch the whole first season before I really hear that whole story, otherwise I might look into it a bit too much.

I don’t understand. The female lead’s character name is Michael? Is she a transgender or something like that?