Patrick Stewart Says Star Trek Picard Series Is Set Up To Run Three Seasons

The next new Star Trek series to premiere on CBS All Access will feature the return of Sir Patrick Stewart, in a show focusing on his Star Trek: The Next Generation character Jean-Luc Picard. The show is set to go into production this spring and more details are emerging about the series from Patrick Stewart and the producers.

Everything has aged in the new Picard show

Yesterday Patrick Stewart was on the London red carpet for the gala premiere of his latest film The Kid Who Would Be King, where he talked a bit about his upcoming Star Trek series. Speaking to Red Carpet News, Stewart talked about how the show will approach the issue of aging:

In returning to Star Trek later in the year, the one thing that will be different about this version of Star Trek is that we have simply moved the whole narrative 20 years from when I last wore Jean-Luc’s uniform [Star Trek: Nemesis]. So, everything has aged. When the series gets released you will see things are very different from what they were.

One detail that has previously emerged with regards to the show’s setting is how it will deal with how Picard’s life has been “radically altered”  by the dissolution of the Romulan Empire, following the events seen in the Prime Timeline portions of the 2009 Star Trek movie and the destruction of Romulus by a supernova.

On the red carpet, Stewart also talked about his (and fellow TNG cast members’) appreciation of the fan support over the years:

It gives me profound satisfaction to hear from people what an impact my role and the series had on their lives. I have heard truly extraordinary stories about how people were affected by it. That makes me very proud for all of us who were in it, because they were a great company – are a great company!

Addressing the possibility of returning to do another Star Trek feature film, Stewart noted the focus for now is on the show and added some more clarity as to the plans for the series, giving a specific number of seasons planned:

Oh lord, we are set up for possibly three years of this show, so if there is a film, it’s a long way off.

The Picard series has been described as both an ongoing series and a limited series. Last week Stewart stated the show was planned to be highly serialized, saying it would be like a 10-hour movie, but he also noted that there are hopes for additional seasons.

Watch video of Stewart talking Picard show below. 

Picard series will be “grounded”

Last week we shared some early details that emerged from Television Critics Association Winter press tour with regards to what the people heading up Star Trek’s future on CBS had to say. Some more details along with interviews have been posted since then, including new comments about the Picard show. Speaking to the press, Alex Kurtzman talked about the approach they are taking to portraying this world of Picard’s 20 years in his future (via IndieWire):

It has to feel grounded, whatever choices we’re making in the future, because I think one of the things that people love about ‘Next Gen’ is that it is a very emotional, thoughtful, grounded piece of entertainment… The easy thing to do is come up with crazy floating skyscrapers and all the cliches of science fiction, and we’ve tried to avoid that, across the board, in the production design and the look of it and the feel of it. It’s all about the personal details that you can connect to now, even though it takes place so far in the future.

Staying Picard amidst radical changes

Kurtzman also discussed how Patrick Stewart has influenced their thinking on how to keep the show true to Picard in a very different future (via ET):

“Patrick was very clear to us in the beginning: He did not want to repeat what he had already done. And by the way, it’s been 20-plus years so he couldn’t possibly be that same person anymore. So the question becomes: What has happened to him in that period of time? Have there been occurrences that force him to reckon with choices that he’s made in his life? How do you hold on to being the person everybody loved when the circumstances around you may have changed so radically? Those are the big questions that we’re asking.

A more character-driven show, coming this year

Speaking to TV Insider, CBS All Access original content chief Julie McNamara gave a brief summary and status update for the Picard show:

It will be very different from Discovery, even more character-driven. Picard was radically affected by the dissolution of the [anti-Federation] Romulan Empire, and this series will explore a different chapter [of his life.] We aim to debut the show toward the end of the year.

Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman and Executive Producer Heather Kadin talking Star Trek to the press at CBS TCA Panel


Keep up with all the news on the Picard show and other upcoming Star Trek TV shows here at TrekMovie.com.

151 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Great news!

So it be even more character driven then Discovery. So definitely serialize story that be based Picad and others. Love that it be grounded. So whatever science or technology will not be overtly unreasonable “godly” to the audience.

Um…. what?

???????????????🤷🏾‍♀️

Jeepers, do we have to pile on everytime there’s a post from someone whose first language isn’t English?

@Jack: I thought the exact same thing.

Good Lord…give Discovery a chance. The first two seasons of The next Generation were awful with only a few good episodes.sheeshh…!!!

Amen.

The more Trek, the better. If it burns out, it will show up right away in sales of the CBS app, so it has this built-in instant barometer. Most people are buying into CBS for a single reason- Star Trek. The PTB probably looked at the drop-off after the end of Discovery’s first season and though they had better come closer to filling the calendar.

Twilight Zone and Scary Stories is holding my interest . Might take a
Look on good fight

Those two can’t really be compared. First two seasons of The Next Generation were weak because the creators were still trying to find their footing in a new, previously unexplored era. Meanwhile, Discovery creators took an already established era, and instead of building upon it, they deliberately smashed it into pieces, all smug-faced, thinking they can do better than those who came before.

TNG pains were natural growing pains; Disco pains are pains caused by an entirely unnecessary chain of extensive cosmetic surgeries. Star Trek would have worked WITHOUT all those “improvements”. We didn’t NEED emotionally stunted Spock with an oedipian childhood trauma, as we already knew that his only childhood trauma was the death of his dogbear. We didn’t NEED Spock’s imaginary foster sister, as we already knew he only had a crazy half brother. We didn’t NEED Klingons replaced with Klingoffs. We didn’t NEED smirking Sarek. We didn’t NEED Section 31 members standing on guard duty carrying their own special Starfleet badges. We didn’t NEED mass-murdering maniac Mudd. We didn’t NEED slanted warp pylons on Enterprise. In the context of Star Trek, those things make about as much sense as Roddenberry’s misguided idea of three-breasted Troi; luckily, Roddenberry had D.C. Fontana to stop him. Kurtzman didn’t.

Perhaps the most symptomatic thing they did was crossing into the Mirror universe. There’s a thing about parallel universes: they are only interesting in juxtaposition to our familiar reality. Except that Discovery didn’t bother to set up any such familiar reality before dumping us into the Mirror universe. They didn’t even bother to introduce the characters. It might’ve been interesting to watch a group of intimately familiar people struggling to survive in a strange, hostile universe; except that the crew of Discovery isn’t intimately familiar to us… halfway into the first season, they are still total strangers. How are we supposed to care about “a black girl with a mohawk” and “a nordic girl with an eye prosthetic” stuck in the Mirror universe, when we don’t even know who they are supposed to be in OUR universe?

Compare to TNG. By the end of The Encounter at Farpoint, we already knew everything we needed about the main cast: who they are, what makes them special, what drives them forward. Discovery creators didn’t bother with that, which leads to suspicion that they don’t even understand basic storytelling concepts like character exposition. If they couldn’t get it right by now, what is the chance they will get it right by the end of the season?

But well, I’m still giving them a chance. Which should be obvious from the fact that I’m still bothering to watch. On a purely human level, I still *do* appreciate all their hard work and their effort. Thing is, these folks are supposed to be professionals; they should be showing actual results, not just effort. This is not a primary school recital, this is a Star Trek show. Effort alone simply isn’t enough.

LOL… “Klingoffs” :)

BTW… Great post. I’m right there with you for most of it. Not all, but most.

I respect your comment, but didn’t Klingons look human during the original Star Trek or am I mistaken about this? Also I disagree with the foster sister statement, I do remember Spock having a half-brother but that was during a movie -_- during the show Spock never mentioned having any siblings so it was very much open for him to have a half-brother or having foster sister. But hey Star Trek V: The Final Frontier wasn’t really a fan favorite but if that is your source for your argument so be it.

As for Spock’s emotional well-being, TOS and the movies did in a small way deal with his battle of being both human and Vulcan but an in depth analysis of that kind of inner turmoil would not have flown to a 1960s audience nor the producers who were sold on the “wagon train to the stars” with fist fights and phasor rifles (WNMHGB). They touched on the inner struggle in TOS episodes like Naked Time or the one with the spores, but it was conveniently swept under the carpet when the crew was onto its next adventure the following week. We also saw a PU Vulcan/human kid being bullied by his classmates in Star Trek 2009. Sounds like SOME don’t want to see that as a subject of discussion in 2019, even if it is only for 2-3 episodes.

Kurtzman didn’t start the series. He’s the the third show runner and he’s fixing that problem

Sweet Jesus, what sort of magic is this???!!?? Those people just disappeared??!! Sacrifice the virgins, the gods are displeased!!

Sounds very promising, but I would still like a ship show based in the 25th century, complete with the world building I miss from the 24th century shows. I know this seems to be an impossible ask. We’ve been rebooting or prequelling for 20 years now. This comeback sounds a little too divorced from what I would be truly excited to see, but I’m still patient and enjoying what we are getting until we finally see the Borg, Q, Cardassians, Ferengi, Bolians, etc. again.

The producers could use the Picard show as a launch pad for other projects in that time period, similar to how the announced Section 31 show will be a spin-off of Discovery. However, I fell like they will not want to do “just another ship-based show”. They have been repeating over and over again how they want all the new Star Trek shows to be very different from each other. So it’s probably better not to hold your breath for a “classic” crew on a ship show as long as Discovery is running no matter the century.

To boldly go….I think you need a ship for that. Exploration. Isn’t that what Trek is about ?

The best Star Trek’s in the 90’s didn’t have a ship full time.

The Undiscovered Country was more than just a distance in space. Sometimes boldly going means time, and not space.

I am totally on-board with a 25th century ship show. Absolutely. Agreed, enough rebooting and prequelling. The most exciting thing about the Picard show for me is that it’s actually going Forward.

Indeed.

How about go really super weird ? Have a show on “Enterprise Q” way way WAY in the future. Canon will DEFINITELY not be an issue and you can make up all sorts of mad stuff. Go crazy.

Agreed as well. I don’t care he’s on a ship or not, my favorite show is DS9, it never fazed me (although they did get one). I just want a story that goes forward again and with some great intrigue.

I totally agree. Going forward is critical after what has come before. I’m excited to see the Picard Trek. Maybe it can lead to a 25th Century starship Trek series.

I’d still like to see something in that 70 year span between TUC and TNG.

Oh yeah, me too!

Well, season 1 of the Picard show is in 2399, so seasons 2 and 3 should be set in the 25th century.

Not sure but I think the 25th Century starts January 1st 2401

I would like a show set some couple hundred years after TNG. It could be a bit of an homage to the late Iain M. Banks’ Culture novels — with the Federation flagship being the new embodiment of Data. That, or ship Data could be the head of Section 31. At any rate, there would be Ship Minds. Adventures at the rough edges of the Federation utopia. What does the Prime Directive mean when the Federation has the ability to banish suffering throughout a large section of the Galaxy? … that sort of thing.

Oh god, not the Borg or Q again! Enemies who can’t be defeated are pointless, and the arrogance of Q wore thin very quickly. Give me the bad guys who actually have layers to their personalities, like the Cardassians. Even the Ferengi were more interesting than the Borg.

Agreed about the Borg. But Q? He wasn’t a bad guy, after all. And one of the most exciting characters on the whole TNG style shows. I just love seeing John deLancie at every possibility I get :-)

Q worked best when he was a clown figure. Apart from comedy relief, Q served no purpose.

I’m not sure I’d agree. He sometimes, especially in All Good Things, used to bring out the best in mankind. And he gave them a headstart with the Borg. And probably more, but I’m too tired to think of all Q episodes right now ;-)

In All Good Things Q spoonfed Picard everything. I didn’t see him as bringing out the best of mankind. I saw him as a nuisance more than anything. A god like being who decides Picard and his crew are his own personal play toy. At least Trelane got taken away by his “parents” in the end.

Nitpick: The destruction of Romulus/Remus gives no indication that the Rihannsu/Romulan Star Empire and military was destroyed or no longer exists. That would be like saying that the destruction of earth would cause the Federation to dissolve and Starfleet to no longer exist. Would it have a major impact in either situation? Oh goodness yes. But you can’t get there from here (Romulus no longer = no Romualan Star Empire/military: Earth no longer = no Federation/Starfleet). There may be hundreds, if not thousands, of worlds and/or systems that make up the Empire.

By the elements: Since the days of S’task the Rihannsu/Romulans were always a minority that barely survived and yet carried on even when there were but mere thousands remaining and in becoming a weaker Empire (but there is no indication of not being intact) they will hopefully re-discover their greater strength again in shaking off the plagues of corruption that brought down a great people.

Here’s hoping the Picard series focuses on them instead of ignoring them for the Klingons like Trek has done or so long – especially since they are one of the most fascinating of all the cultures in Trek (in my opinion).

Jolan tru.

Well, the Empire has not been exactly stable for some time. Shinzon’s short coup d’état may have created a power vacuum. When Romulus is destroyed, further on, it is easy to imagine many of the planets from the Empire declaring independence. Whatever left could have been attacked by the Klingons… Empires do fall, no matter how great they are. Just look at our own history…

Also, it seems like Romulous is the glue that holds it all together. Imagine what would happen to the British empire in 1800 if England suddenly vanished off the face of the Earth. That empire would be dissolved.

Add to that the unstable nature of the government that Salvador brought up. Think about the line from Nemesis. “As what happens frequently on Romulus. A new faction came to power.” (Line may not be 100% correct but you get the idea)

But as a counterpoint, consider:
1) The Ottoman Empire, which (short of Russia re-taking Constantinpole) came as close to “vanishing” as you’ll see. But Kemalist Turkey reemerged in its place. And we are seeing something of a neo-Ottoman policy out of Ankara today.

2. The Austro-Hungarian Empire similarly collapsed.

3. As we now see with Crimea, the collapse of the USSR did not lead to an end to Russia’s imperial ambitions.

The British Empire collapse seems like an outlier.

OK. But those are small and they all pretty much went away as well.

Very good points J.P. and Salvador. Lots of room for “Geopolitics” to maneuver around in. What about the Romulan “Authorities” on the colony planets and the Colonials? I think of the French in Algeria or the British in India. Also what about differing Romulan Factions on these colonial planets. I think of the Yanks and the English, essentially the same countrymen, separated by an ocean (interstellar space) AND by Puritan/Parliamentarian vs Cavalier/Royalist politics.And what about the Klingon Empire, and how would the Federation react to Klingon “conquistador” encroachment? What about colonial planets petitioning for Federation membership? And how would the Vulcans react to the plight of their brethren-of-the-blood?(declare neutrality?, withdraw from the Federation?, and attempt to “Vulcanize” those Romulans sympathetic to such Vulcan approaches?? Spock was exploring this possibility). Lots of story possibilities here.

Stewart has said that there will be allegories to current events in our show. Because of Brexit and the Scottish referendum, it would not surprise me if we finally see a “Vulcan secession” storyline make the big screen.

We have seen Vulcan secession in in the novel Spock’s World, Andonrian secession in the TNG/DS9 relauch novels, and the Vulcan secession plotline was the original plan for DS9 season 4 before being replaced by the suspension of the Khitomer Accords.

@The River Temarc I’ve been predicting a ‘Vexit’ plot point amongst other things since this show has been announced so I’m inclined to agree. Stewart is very political, it makes sense that the opportunity to comment on the issues he feels strongly about would be what compelled him to return to the role.

Yes, exactly!

I’m betting Picard will have to deal with Vulcexit following the end of the Romulan Empire. I guess Sir Patrick would like to tackle that one…

The Dominion certainly seemed to think that once they took Romulus the Empire would collapse.

Also, comparing a centralized empire run by one species based on fear and cocercion to a voluntary union of hundreds of species doesn’t really make sense.

Exactly. The Romulans were xenophobes. It’s doubtful there were many worlds in their empire, since they kept to themselves. Losing Romulus would be crippling–it would be the majority of the population.

Really? The British Empire, the French Empire, the Dutch Empire, the Belgian Congo Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, The Holy Roman (Germany) Empire, spread over most of the globe…when we declared independence from the British Empire, there were precious few Republics around (Lincoln mentioned this in a speech about the Civil War being about whether or not a republican form of government can even exist). The afore-mentioned Empires were fairly stable in their day, and there exist more tools of suasion (per- or dis-) than simple coercion.

Oh, I forgot to mention the quite ambitious Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire, essentially dividing the New World between them (east of the line= Portuguese; west of the line=Spanish). BTW, the Portuguese Empire (probably the first of the Euro-Empires to plant their flag) was the last Euro-Empire to dissolve, after losing their colonies Angola and Mozambique in 1975.

Why even bother saying “Rihannsu?” That’s only in the books, and it’s just showing off. They’re Romulans.

They were never Romulans. That was a name made up for them by outsiders. That’s like saying humans are “earthlings” because another species decided to call them that. I don’t think a knowledge of Trek is “showing off”.

It was never onscreen, was it?

Wow I never heard of this until now. Its true you do learn something new every day.

Maybe, but it’s not canon, at least I don’t remember ever having heard of it, and I’ve watched each and every episode and movie at least 2-3 times ;-)

I’d always wished that TNG had picked ip on some of Duane’s Rihansu stuff.

Instead, it mostly portrayed them as one-dimensional (and that one dimension was ridiculously-obvious scheming). Even TOS showed Romulans with more depth.

Come to think of it, TNG wasn’t great at multi-faceted antagonists, period (except, arguably, maybe Q and David Warner’s Cardassian). And it wasn’t great at exploring cultures.

Romulans really didn’t get interesting for me until they showed up on DS9 during the Dominion war because it was literally the first time we saw them working with Starfleet and not just the boogeyman they were portrayed on TOS and TNG. Yes, they only did that because Garek blew one of them up to enter the war but that’s besides the point ;). It was just interesting to finally see Romulans doing things other than violating the neutral zone for an episode and really gave them something to do.

Thats actually why I was hoping they left Romulus being destroyed as canon because now we can get another angle on them that we never got before.

You know that it is theorized that while the Klingons were the Soviets of TOS the Romulans were the secretive Chinese, right?

Actually I didn’t know that lol. Interesting if true and it would’ve made sense at the time although the U.S. never went to war with China like Starfleet with the Romulans.

No, but the similarity lied in the fact that so very little intelligence existed on them. Like the Romulans. The Federation really didn’t know much about them at all. And, as Spock said, only the Romulans know what they think of Earth.

OK, gotcha. That would make sense.

True, the military was probably able to move all or most of their fleet out of the way of the explosion. However, countless civilians and personel who couldn’t be evacuated in time as well as a large part of their infrastructure (everything between Hobus and the Romulan solar system at least) would have been lost.

To put things into perspective, even if Hobus was the closest star over, it would have wiped out EVERYTHING in a region of several light years around it (the closest star system to Sol, Proxima Centauri is about 4.5 LY away from us).

This whole interview is rather worrying. If Kurtzman and co has trouble handling a new series I hate what he’ll do with the established characters of TNG.

What the heck are you talking about? There is NO indication in this article that Kurtzman is having trouble handling a new series. Honestly, people, cut the melodramatic histrionics.

So you thought Discovery is a masterpiece. Oh dear.

I get where you’re coming from, slider, and my current faith in Kurtzman is pretty weak as well. Maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised, and he’ll oversee the show from a distance. I felt the way you do when I heard they were going to go ‘enhance’ the TOS era, with Discovery.

He’s said he’s overseeing the other shows at a distance. That’s the entire point of hiring people to develop the other shows.

My job is to run Discovery and, in the case of other shows, remain at 30,000 feet so I can weigh in meaningfully and significantly at all the critical junctures of the development.

https://trekmovie.com/2019/01/09/alex-kurtzman-compares-expansion-of-star-trek-to-marvel-discusses-becoming-discovery-showrunner/

Which is pretty common. See: Greg Berlanti.

Thanks, Matt! I recall that now that you pulled it up.

Begs the question why everyone he’s hired so far for Star Trek has done such a bad job with the franchise. If he isn’t to blame who is?

It’s not so much he will have to improve over Discovery a little as in he’ll have to go back to producing classes for the next five years before working on a property again.

I want a scene where Picard sizes up an aged, doughy Riker and says, “You know, you probably should have taken Q up on his offer.”

That would be excellent.

I want a full frontal Picard Nude scene.

just fix the damn klingons.

The Klingons are fine. They don’t need fixing.

Did they kill your father? Does differently looking Klingons kill star trek for you?

I don’t think they’d appreciate forced sterilization.

The new Klingon design looks fantastic. No longer do Klingons look like humans wearing cheap halloween masks.

As long as they are bipeds and of same build and size of humans, they will ALWAYS look like actors wearing prosthetics. You want to make them more alien? You need CG or puppets.

You crazy. I love Discovery’s Klingons. They are so alien looking and unique. I also liked their look in Star Trek into darkness.

They look much better now with hair and better clothing at least. And they are speaking more English so they are trying. I like them much more now than I did last season at least, even if their actual presence still bore me.

I get what you’re saying. They look more plastic now; not as capable of expressing emotion now, like the TNG/DS9 Klingons could, and that is EVERYTHING in story-telling.

I prefer them not looking like a cosplay fan that wandered on to the set.

So it will be Picard’s version of what Kirk went through in WOK. Got it.

No. That isn’t remotely what the article says. Some of the people who post here have serious reading-comprehension issues.

Sure sounds like it.

“Stewart talked about how the show will approach the issue of aging:”

Lifted directly from the article. What was an underlying theme of WoK? Kirk coming to terms with his age.

Don’t we all contemplate our age and our time left and all other issues aside? It’s one of the most pertinent questions we all ask ourselves isn’t it?
TWOK was 1982! It’s will be 2020 when Picard hits.

Just saying it was done before. That’s all. Doesn’t mean it won’t be done as well. But it will be harder, I think.

You just made me feel very old. 😞

There’s not one way to deal with age — and it’s a pretty universal theme in all literature. So there are plenty of story possibilities that aren’t TWOK.

In other words, Picard ain’t Kirk.

Picard’s also at least 30 years older (and possibly even 40+ years older) than Kirk was then.

The other difference with Picard was that he was already presented as a more mature captain, both in age and personality. Kirk came off as this young swashbuckling guy who was later coming to terms that he couldn’t do that forever. In Picards case, he looked at it with a different zeal and that in Generations he started to regret he had only been a Captain and not much else because he was already much older by then. That was sort of the interesting thing (although not on purpose obviously) that TWOK and Generations did and view how both men looked at it so differently. For Kirk, it was the realization of a career coming to an end (sort of ;)) and that he wasn’t looking forward to end while Picard started to wonder was it all worth it to be so involved in his career and very little else?

But it will be interesting what they do with Picard, if they finally had him rethink his life of being a Captain and doing something else entirely. OR maybe regretted that decision once he was no longer a captain?

I have to agree Land O. Really brought me back to reality when it comes to some fans (and that’s actually not a diss), I just always have the expectation that Trek fans think and decipher information in a more complex way, and can read between the lines instead of jumping to conclusions. The comments section on this site have changed that for me.

How’s that not a diss?

While I don’t think it will be exactly like that, I do like it when Star Trek tackles themes related to aging. With Sir Patrick Stewart’s acting chops and life perspective, it could really be something. I am very excited!!

Absolutely. Very compelling, interested to see what they’re going to come up with.

Mid-life crisis at 80!

I was thinking more of “Logan”

But it’s a pretty universal journey.

And Kirk was facing a midlife crisis (and sort of did again in Generations). Picard is getting closer to end. And Maybe he’ll be dealing with what’s becoming a very different federation than what he’d worked toward his entire life..

I’m actually a fan of what Rian Johnston did with Luke Skywalker — people do struggle with regret and with a loss of faith late in life.

So there are many possibilities…

Agreed as to what was done with Skywalker, Jack. I’m at a point where there are very likely less days in front of me than there are behind, so the whole topic of mid-life and aging I find very relavent.

I’ve been saying from the beginning that this is going to be the trek equivalent of Logan

He punkin us.. he’ll be Captain of the Enterprise F (the destruction of Romulus prompted him back into service) aided by Commander Burnham (great grandson of Michael) and Data (B4) still there as science officer. 1st episode will have Q. followed by a remake/sequel of Charlie X titled ‘Charlie Now’

Love this comment lol. Apparently that’s all it would take to please some.

The transcript has him saying, ungrammatically, “things are very different THAN what they were.” But the recording shows that he actually said, correctly, “things are very different FROM what they were.”

Congratulations, Roderick! You found the intentional blooper. Where would you like your 500 quatloo prize delivered to?

…and I will be tuning in.

“It gives me profound satisfaction to hear from people what an impact my role and the series had on their lives. I have heard truly extraordinary stories about how people were affected by it. That makes me very proud for all of us who were in it, because they were a great company – are a great company!”

Could this be a hint that the TNG gang is going to be back in some form with Picard, be it in regular, cameo, or recurring roles? Jonathan Frakes has been dropping similar statements into his recent interviews.

It’s running for a scheduled three seasons. That at least about 30 episodes. Picard is not going to be the only character obviously. I’m 99.8% sure at least one TNG veteran will appear at some stage.

“When the series gets released you will see things are very different than what they were.”

So… “bald Klingons”-type canon tampering again? ;) Or “needs to be ~25% different from the original Trek” again?

I’m guessing that Starfleet has somewhat regressed and will parallel real work politics in terms of how nasty it has become and the rise of the far right and intolerance issues. GR utopia be gone lol

Indeed.

I hope Starfleet hasn’t gone back to wearing spandex pajamas.

It’s called progression from a tired formula.

Oh My God, he’s done it before, he’s doing it now and from this article, we learn he’ll do it again.

Will that leave time for Picard’s ode to ‘Sub Rosa’ or ‘Code of Honor?’ Kidding — 30 hours could be awesome!

It better look as good as Discovery ! The thing I love about discovery is the angles….the way the camera is always moving. The other series all had that 3 camera setup. Sometimes it just look flat.
Say what the haters wanna say about Discovery…but at least it is cinematic looking. Yes…the stories could use some work….but over all….I am really enjoying discovery.
I know a lot of the hardcore fans are stuck in their ways…but I would rather have Trek…than none at all….and since the Kelvinverse is pretty much wrapped….we better be grateful for what we can get !

There’s never been a trek series shooting 3-camera, unless it was for a stunt or explosion.

Too much fill lighting can create a flat look (cough TNG season3-7 cough-cough), but I’m not getting what you’re saying at all.

DSC just looks like it was shot through a dirty windshield half the time, with some of that annoying BSG half-overexposed/half-underxposed/very-little-properly-exposed look coming through on the bridge viewscreen an awful lot of the time.

The previous series were all single camera. What you’re describing is how they typically shoot a sitcom, not a dramatic series.

Here’s hoping his 78 year old tank has the gas…..

I hate saying this but one of the biggest concerns in moving forward with the lead of a series pushing 80 is how long that lead will be able to stay with the series.

Well, look at all the folks who keep wanting Shatner to play Kirk again. Pushing 90, taking on another movie would kill the guy…

LOL so true. And I’m not concerned about Stewart’s age, he’s clearly healthy and its not like he was pulled out of retirement to do it meaning he knows what he’s capable of doing. And if he decides its too much they can always have a little less Picard and bring in others. End of the day these shows always turn into an ensemble anyway.

No, trying to fasten the girdle is what would kill him….and two or three members of the costume department.😁

So Stewart just confirmed unless this thing truly tanks, we are getting three seasons minimum! Yaaaay!!!

And I have no doubt IF the show is really popular and Stewart decides to hang it up we are going to get a spin off of some kind (hopefully not another Section 31 show lol). Anyway, its just so nice to know the 25th century will be a part of Trek for hopefully years to come!

Amen to that. “To seek out NEW life, NEW civilizations…”

Then we should have a show consisting of JUST new aliens. No humans. Just Aliens on their planet dealing with their civilization.

That’s actually what DS9 was originally about. Starfleet was going to be there, but it was going to take place on an alien planet dealing with its issues which I assume would’ve been Bajor before moving it to to the station.

I’m a little concerned that this is going to be dark/depressing/political in all kinds of horrible ways. I also don’t want a Picard: The Soap Opera, which is also what this sounds like it might be. I’m very afraid..

At what point in the progression of Trek will we finally set aside the silly idea that people in ships will be doing the discovering? AI is doing all the heavy lifting in space exploration right now. At the dawn of the 25th century, all Picard will be doing is going to the most interesting places the computers have found for him already…

That concept has already been addressed decades ago in a TNG episode (can’t remember which one). Picard said that Starfleet could of just sent out a fleet of probes to do all of the exploring, but that would take away the Humanity of exploration, the very purpose of going into the unknown.

Actually that was said in an episode of Voyager by Janeway. I know because I literally watched it yesterday lol. It was the episode ‘Friendship One’ when Seven questions were why they retrieving the NASA ship that disappeared near Mars in the 21st century. She said it didn’t seem very scientific when Janeway said if scientific knowledge was all they cared about Starfleet would’ve just built probes and not starships and that exploring was about seeing things with their own eyes.

And I can understand that obviously. She’s making the point they explore because they actually WANT to do it. Its not a technology issue, its a human one; to discover new things on your own and not just machines to send back the data.

That said I agree with Phil’s basic point, they can certainly use probes in more dangerous areas and I imagine they still send out satellites to places that is harder reach like to the gamma and delta quadrants. They may have even sent probes off to other nearby galaxies by now. But I imagine Starfleet sees exploration as a human component first.

Mechanization was first dealt with in “The Ultimate Computer”.

After V’ger, Nomad,and M5 one would think Starfleet would be leary of AI’s being in the lead in anything.

One would think…

I’m glad Patrck comes back, he was like a father to me. The morals i have now is thanks to him. Always respect everyone,and be humble! Hope he was issued the old USS Enterprise, as any admiral can choose their own ship..

Which Stewart will turn up creatively though? The one who insisted on creative changes for Insurrection & Nemesis which did not work or the one who was happy to just be the actor for hire in the early TNG years! The actor for hire might get 3 years the creative one however……!

I haven’t read any other fans’ guesses about what the Picard show will be about. But given Sir Patrick’s insistence that it not retread old ground, and the subject of the Romulan Empire’s “dissolution” continually being raised, I wonder if Picard is involved with the Federation in an ambassadorial capacity to whatever remains of the Romulan people? Possibly reunifying them with their Vulcan cousins, at long last?

I’ve also considered that his interest in archaeology will play a part in the series … perhaps recovering Romulan artifacts in an attempt to preserve their culture. Should be interesting.

I’ll find it odd if they DON’T have a CGI Data/B4 voiced by Brent Spiner. The technology is ready for that.

His relationship with Data was one of the cores of the series and the movies right up till the end of Nemesis to the point where Picard invested so much time into Data’s B.S. antics all the time that you have to see that through.

At least an element of this in at least a single episode, no?

I just remembered that Dennis McCarthy wrote an “alternate” main title for “Star Trek: The Next Generation” that incorporated “Picard’s Theme.” I think it would be kinda cool if somebody at CBS remembers there “IS” a Picard theme and uses it in the main title of his new show.

I hope he is still the Picard we know even with the changes in his life. I don’t want a Jake Skywalker situation.

Jake Skywalker?

@ Tiger2 – some refer to Hamill’s character in The Last Jedi movie as that, because he’s like a totally different person in their minds to how they remember Luke in the previous movies.

35 years can change a person….

@ ML31 – true, but in that example it was all down to the The Last Jedi’s director, as even Hamill balked at how his character had been ‘reimagined’ at the time. In fact, it was Hamill himself who came up with the ‘Jake’ moniker.

Time will tell if Picard’s character ends up coming across as equally different from his Next Gen younger self.

i thought what they did with luke was consistent with the OT.

True, Cervenates. What happened to Luke was Johnson’s doing. And yes, Hamill expressed is reservations but being the professional he is he did as good a job he could. But that does not change that people change over time. I know I sure have. I hope for the better. :)

OK, thank you Cervantes, I understand now.

I only seen that movie twice when it came out but I was pretty sure it didn’t reveal Kylo had a brother or something. But then I started thinking maybe they mentioned another relative somewhere and I forgot it?

For the record, I really had no problem on how Luke was portrayed in TLJ, but I can understand the hardcore nerds who was disappointed after 30 years that they couldn’t see Luke be a total badass like they imagined it in their heads. Johnson should’ve just went total fanboy with the movie: give Luke and Snoke a huge fight scene in the climax on another dessert planet after he admitted to Rey he was her father and the crazier reveal Snoke was Emperor Palpatine’s secret brother who loses but escapes with Leia to try and turn her to the dark side setting up a big episode 9 conclusion and people probably would’ve loved him for it.

I said this before but bears repeating here. I liked that film better when I saw it a 2nd time on disc. And even though I wasn’t keen on it in the theater, what I DID like was that it was different from TFA. It wasn’t a rehash of Empire. Good for Rian. That film has grown on me.

Yeah I had problems with the film for sure (that entire casino planet sequence is just mind boggingly stupid IMO) but I had no issues he tried to make the film his own and didn’t want to just make it full of more rehash stuff and just tick off all the boxes of what TFA set up. THAT said though, it probably wasn’t the best idea to ignore practically everything TFA set up and there were definitely a lot of scenes that just didn’t need to be there (especially a lot of the ‘comedy’ stuff), but I generally liked it.

@ Tiger2 – not sure it was the fact that the director didn’t make Luke some kind of ‘total badass’ that a lot of fans were unhappy about…more the fact that that he was made to contemplate killing his nephew, the son of his sister and buddy, while he slept.

I certainly know that’s why I was disappointed with how Luke’s character was handled in The Last Jedi, and why I intend to fan edit the movie for myself so that he doesn’t do that.

West Wing of the Federation

I am so glad we are getting more Trek. I will continue to support Trek as I have been watching since 1980.
Discovery is a good. I know some hate it…but it is still Trek ! The klingons are awesome and isn’t a far departure from the ones we saw in Star Trek: INTO DARKNESS. I always thought the Klingons should look really alien and the make up artists should be given an emmy. My opinion.
Discovery is now my 3rd favorite Trek series after TNG and Deep Space 9. Voyager comes in last for me because it was a wasted opportunity for the writers to really go all out like Battlestar Galactca did. Enterprise is a guility pleasure. The original series doesn’t make the cut for me because…what can be said ? It is Supreme. It is on a pedistal where I am concerned.
For years when Trek had its drought…we are finally getting
What Star Wars have gotten for decades.
I appreciate the hard work everyone working on Discovery is doing. Does it has flaws ? Every Trek series does.