CBS is developing more live-action Star Trek shows, and one that many fans have been clamoring for would be set on the USS Enterprise, taking place before The Original Series and featuring the return of Anson Mount’s Captain Pike and Ethan Peck’s Mr. Spock, who were introduced in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. They reprised their roles in a Star Trek: Short Treks as well.
Peck ready for more Spock
In a new interview with Ars Technica, Ethan Peck didn’t offer any confirmation about if or when a U.S.S. Enterprise show might happen, but he does give an update on how ready he is to return to the space:
I would love to continue playing this character and being a part of this world. Sure, I am biased by now because I’m part of it, and I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid, but there’s almost something religious about Star Trek. Its ideology provides a hope that people can hold onto. Just look at the community it’s created. It celebrates what makes us special as human beings, illuminates what makes us great.
In the same interview, Peck talked about his practical approach to playing Spock, informed by the original actor:
What makes Spock so compelling is the perpetual conflict within him. The conflict between logic and emotion, between Vulcan and human. I always saw in Nimoy’s eyes a depth of understanding of the emotion around him, and an empathy with those around him. That wasn’t always communicated verbally. But you see it in the time he takes to consider moments or situations. That, I think, expresses his humanity very well.
Ethan Peck as Spock in Star Trek: Discovery “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2”
The expected (but not confirmed) return of Pike, Spock and Number One
Alex Kurtzman, who is in charge of CBS’ Star Trek Universe, has stated that “the fans have been heard” when it comes for the desire for a show set on Pike’s Enterprise. In January Kurtzman confirmed there were “active conversations” about bringing back Pike, Spock and Number One. The executive producer went as far as to say he would prefer to do an ongoing series instead of a mini-series, adding, “There’s still seven years from Discovery’s departure [at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2] until Pike’s accident. There’s a lot of precedent for seven-year ‘Star Trek’ shows.”
Ethan Peck isn’t the only actor who is ready to go back to the U.S.S. Enterprise. In an interview posted a couple of weeks ago on Space.com, Anson Mount confirmed he’d be up for returning play Pike:
I’d love to do that…you’re talking to a Trekkie who, I mean, just to sit in the captain’s chair is one of the rarest honors of being a modern actor. Not a lot of people have been asked to do it. I’m certainly grateful that I was entrusted with that responsibility. And yes, of course I’d love to continue to occupy that chair. I’m not going to grouse around and be aloof about it. I’d love to.
And in a February interview with FashionWeekDaily, Rebecca Romijn (who played Number One on Pike’s U.S.S. Enterprise in Discovery and Short Treks) hinted there was more Star Trek in her future when asked what she was up to, saying “I’ve also been working on Star Trek here and there, but I can’t really talk about that.”
An official announcement about a Pike’s Enterprise Star Trek show (or other Trek show where they would be included) has been anticipated for a year and may be one of the least surprising things to come from the powers that be for the Star Trek Universe. But with so much film and TV in Hollywood and Canada shut down during the pandemic, there may not be an update anytime soon.
Ethan Peck as Spock with Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Anson Mount as Captain Pike in Star Trek: Short Treks “Q&A”
Watch Peck unbox iconic Star Trek helmet
Showing just how much of the Kool-Aid he has drunk, this week Peck participated in a fun new video from the official Star Trek site where he unboxes a bit of iconic, and some would say infamous, Trek merchandise history.
And in another new video (only available on the official site), Peck reads from the book Too Many Tribbles.
Keep up with all the news of upcoming Star Trek TV projects at TrekMovie.com.
I would love to see Ethan Peck play Spock again in a series with Captain Pike. Star Trek has a lot going on lately. From Picard to that one unnecessary Section 31 show. It would be nice to see him come back to Trek once more.
Zachary Quinto is my favorite Spock after Leonard Nimoy but Ethan Peck is a superb actor himself.
I really dig this guy’s enthusiasm (and acting performance, a nice contrast to his “sister”‘s hysterical over-emoting), but unfortunately he looks more like Zachary Quinto than Leonard Nimoy’ s Spock. If they do a series, they should use inexpensive Deep Fake technology to paper over some of the more jarring differences to the Spock we remember (such as on display in the picture above; from this angle he looks nothing like Spock). The de-aging of Brent Spiner for Data in Picard shows, it can be done!
I think bearing and composure are more important than simple looks – if he can nail Nimoy’s characterization, I can forgive the appearance
Funny thing… I felt he encompassed Spock more with the long hair than with the standard bowl cut. But he still seemed to capture the essence and I would LOVE to see a Pike led show.
Provided we get someone other than Secret Hideout making it. If the choice is the Pike show comes with SH or you get nothing, then I’d rather have nothing.
I don’t trust Kurtzman as much anymore. CBS should be careful from here on out. CBS has done a wonderful job with Star Trek over the years but they are hurting the franchise.
A Pike show should happen.
I don’t have the bitterness and hate so many seem to have for him on other boards. I’m actually rooting for him because he seems like he really wants to get it right, but I’m starting to worry his take on Star Trek isn’t going to excite the fanbase going forward. There is still plenty of time but I think there is a lot less excitement going forward after Picard didn’t quite hit it out of the park in the end like it felt it was going to in the beginning. There is still TONS of potential and I can honestly say I liked Picard personally but it still lacked even for me and I was one of its biggest supporters.
I just don’t want this era of Star Trek to be compared to the level of Disney Star Wars toxic fandom (and I’m aware many of the more bitter fans already do). And it hasn’t been ALL bad for that franchise either because the TV side (Mandolorian and Clone Wars final season) seem to get it right. There just needs to be the ‘one’ show to remind people why we should love the fact Star Trek is back. It COULD be a Pike show, but I still have a feeling that will just divide people more for some reason. Maybe Lower Decks will surprise us all too, even for an animated comedy.
Picard and definitely Discovery both seem highly mixed at best thus far.
Tiger, I don’t doubt Kurtzman’s enthusiasm or skills on the business side, but creatively he is severely lacking, to put it mildly. He also does not seem to have a good hand in picking and delegating to people who DO master the creative side (same problem Kennedy has with Star Wars), instead micromanaging and putting his specific tonality of Trek (the inexplicable and indefensible focus on gore and foul language, for example) into everything we have seen so far and that was advertised as “very different”.
Unfortunately in the real world awards aren’t given for level of enthusiasm but for bringing in the harvest on all accounts so I don’t feel he is lambasted unfairly by fandom.
To wit, Berman was as adept at managing the studio goons as he is, but he also had a better handle on staying true to Gene’s vision (even if he disagreed personally) AND delegating to capable creative people who did their own thing in mostly respectful ways (see: DS9).
Yeah I can’t disagree with that. Kurtzman;s heart is in the right place like everyone who works on these shows. At the very least they want to get it right for no other reason than to stay employed. No one wakes up every day thinking how can they upset the fanbase they depend on for their livlihood and employ thousands of people under and yet there are fans who truly believe they are out to destroy the very thing they devote practically their entire lives to. It’s bizarre logic but its not new either.
And yes you can have all the best intentions in the world but simply not a good fit for your job. I’m NOT saying that with Kurtzman yet and I acknowledged while I thought Discovery was bad in its first season a lot of it was probably due to all the crazy circumstances that was happening behind the scenes. Season 2 also had its drama but things were clearly better and they were starting to frankly just right the awful decisions Fuller created. If people think Kurtzman is bad, I would hate to see where that show would be now if Fuller were still in charge and he can write circles around Kurtzman. But it also tells you no matter what experience, talent and resources you have, if your ideas aren’t gelling with the majority of the fanbase its still going to lead to heartbreak.
Kurtzman obviously gets Star Trek, he is simply trying to take it another direction just like Nick Meyer did with TWOK, Berman did with DS9 and so on. I have NO issues with that. I have said many times things SHOULD be shaken up. I want to see different facets of the franchise and I was completely onboard to what they did with Picard. I had no problem it wasn’t going to be TNG 2.0. But same time if you’re going to do something radically different then the writing has to match the ambition and it sill has to stay in line with core Star Trek beliefs regardless. I will argue they kept to the latter as I have all season but you and others felt differently and that’s completely valid. But we do agree on the former and that the writing still lacks and where they got into trouble.
But at least UNLIKE Discovery they got the setting of the universe right. That is the ONE thing that really saves Picard as a show (and of course just having Stewart back in general). If they got THAT completely wrong too then it would be a lot more bitterness like Discovery got. So while it wasn’t perfect as a whole it was an improvement. We can agree on that I think as well, even if marginally.
Yes Berman had the bigger advantage because he was under Roddenberry directly and he said he always tried to do what Roddenberry wanted but of course a lot of things still changed once he solely rant it, ala, DS9, but he clearly gets and understand Star Trek, that was always clear. But it didn’t mean all his ideas were great or that he had full control over them. Enterprise made that clear because that was suppose to be a very different show from the start and dare I say it a more interesting show. Doesn’t mean it would’ve been better or even good but very Star Trek. But the network balked at it.
But for me, I think Berman did waaaaay more right than wrong. I’m trying to imagine 18 seasons and 500 episodes and movies of Kurtzman Trek and based on what we have so far, I think fans are going to turn on him much faster than when they turned on Berman based on what we have so far. Again there is still plenty of time to turn it around and people may be singing his praises in a few years but I’m not as hopeful about it at this point and I like the guy.
Lower Decks is the thing I have the most hope for at the moment and that Nickelodeon cartoon. Both projects sound very promising to me.
I think he is trying to walk a tightrope. He may indeed be a fan. And he is trying to make a good solid Trek show that also will appeal to the masses. The problem where is there has not been one instance where both were wildly successful. I think he obviously WANTS to make a good Trek show but he seems to be torn. Also, from what I can see a good Trek show may not be his best skill set. I was all for the concept of Secret Hideout creating multiple shows but after the first three efforts I am now having my doubts.
I think we are all expecting so much and people don’t realize we have only been few years with the new TV shows. TOS and STNG had a bumpy start as well.
All Berhman series began to improve right after Season 3. We saw that in Discovery. Season 2 was much better.
These new shows visually are a success. Besides the Romulan vs Starfleet ships at the Picard season finale which looks like they copy and paste hundred of ships.
I believe the problem is a lack of time. they need a hybrid of the old team and the new team for their scripts. We need the new blood to tell the story for this generation. But the new blood are in serious need of quality for the final product.
I believe CBS doesn’t provide enough time to the writing team to review the story. Maybe they need a Star Trek Veteran Approval Board to review and polish the stories before production, before shooting. Not sure what is happening.
I admit I wanted more from Discovery and Picard. Specially for Picard, my expectations were high for Season 1. Their stories are lacking quality, details, excitement, wow moments…they are not elaborating on the important issues that they present.
But still, I am enjoying the new Trek very much. I am grateful we can see something new. We are finally back on TV and soon, hope in 1-2 years on the big screen.
Star Trek Boldly Go stars Ethan Peck as Mr. Spock, Anson Mount as Christopher Pike and Rebecca Romijn as Commander Una. Premieres on CBS All-Access November 2021. Boldly Go as the Enterprise explores the wonders of the galaxy.
In another reality maybe.
There is the mystery show already on their books as “Strange New Worlds”
For real?? This would be great news!!!
Nothing more than a rumour tho
It would be nice to have a ST show that does some exploring again
Now, who plays Yeoman Colt? ;)
It probably makes little difference as apparently she mutated into a spiky alien by the time of Discovery: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Colt . Maybe she used some of Krall’s life extension technology on some hapless alien victim.
True story… I once knew two people named John, and I know you won’t believe this, but they were two totally different people!
Haha, classy!
???? Why would they do that???
I do not believe they will do it, because I think that the writers are happy to be free from that constant canon issues that they created when they were doing Discovery. Having Enterprise to continue the adventures of this era will bring them to the same situation that they were in with Discovery before the time jump. It is possible to do it right, but there has to be some really competent person that knows canon and that person will have to lead the writers room to not allow ideas that could cause issues.
I am thinking I ought to put a Pike show into the “Be careful what you wish for” category. I don’t have a lot of faith in Secret Hideout anymore. While each show did get a little better all three seasons we have seen so far have been… Not good overall.
Exactly. Kurtzman may be okay at casting and the technical skill is there when budgets are big enough, but beyond that SH is mostly a train wreck when it comes to stories, pacing, characterisation and scripts. Hardly trivial failings!
If anything they should cut the budget, force them to write good stories instead of being over reliant on flashy effects. I’m re-watching TNG at the moment and nothing I’ve seen since Enterprise ended comes close to that level of quality.
This! Say what you want about early TNG or the Berman trek era, but there were a lot of good stories there. Ok, to be fair, TNG’s budget was also quite high for its time, but still…
I tried, for the first time in over a year, to watch a first season episode of Discovery again a few days ago (stuck at home so why not ;)), but just couldn’t get into it. I watched it (the fourth episode, forgot the name), but had no desire to keep going after that. Meanwhile I can still watch TNG from any season over and over again and the show still holds up great (OK Shades of Grey and Code of Honor are still an utter stinker ;)). But episodes I been watching for decades versus brand new shows with big FX and nice sets but poorer story quality.
And when you have 25 episodes every season, its still easy to find some great gems even in the ‘bad’ seasons. Discovery, everything is so connected, it’s hard to rewatch anything except your absolute favorites and there are very very few of those thus far for me. I thought first season of DIS truly stunk and why I can’t just click on an odd episode like so many seasons of classic Trek from TOS-ENT.
I don’t know if the new stuff is ever going to get to my enjoyment of the Berman era of Trek. I hope so but so far not feeling it.
I hate to sound negative, because I’m someone who grew up with Star Trek, even TOS grew on me and I’m a 90’s kid, but I was able to get past the effects and sets because of the brilliant writing and dynamic between Kirk, Spock and Bones.
The only STD episode that’s felt remotely like real Star Trek was New Eden.
LOL New Eden seems to the one episode that is universally loved in Discovery by most fans. And in classic Trek that would just be a run of the mill TNG or VOY episode.
For me that is my top Discovery episode as well and only that one and the Harry Mud one in season one (the time loop one similar to what TNG did 25 years ago ;)) are the ONLY ones I’ve seen at least three times. I will say I’ve seen most of season 2 episodes twice at least. But season one is so bad I can probably count on just one hand the episodes I seen at least twice, including the one I just rewatched for the first time (I looked up the name of the episode and the ‘short’ version is ‘The Butcher’s Knife’). I just really really hated the Klingon war which was boring and anti-climatic. And the MU stuff was a little better but still nothing amazing I have to rewatch over and over again.
But it certainly proves they can do those kinds of stories. The problem is its harder to do these kinds of stories when you have these big end of the galaxy stakes going on in the main story and takes up 3/4ths of the season. You can’t really do something more introspective unless you find a way to attach it to your bigger story as New Eden did.
IMHO, the best episode Secret Hideout has made ironically enough came in STD’s frist season. It was Lethe. I only saw it the one time but I did think it better than at least 50% of the TNG episodes. I did like New Eden but as you said, it would pretty much stack up as a slightly above par TNG episode and the reason I think highly of it I suspect is because I was surprised to have an episode like it from STD.
Lethe was good and it was also one of the few episodes I seen twice in first season AND the literally the only one that got better for me on a second viewing.
Another problem that I realized lately with The Mandalorian, which I like, is the nature of serialization. Every episode leaves you (at least partially) unsatisfied and having to wait another week to see how the story continues just sucks.
In TOS and TNG you had a new story every week (bar the two-parters). And in VOY, DS9 and ENT, you had arcs (yes, the Xindi arc lastet an entire season, but still there were kind-of-standalone episodes in between), but could still enjoy the single episodes. This is not the case with STD, Picard or The Mandalorian. At least for me.
Maybe watching Picard as one long movie will be better, who knows…
Good point! I think it could be done, but it would have to be done with great caution because all the canonistas will be scrutinizing every single line of script. Too bad, because in the end a few mistakes here and there are not really an issue – but today’s social media would never let mistakes go unpunished. The other day I was watching an old episode of TNG when Picard says he met Sarek once before at his “son’s wedding”. Back then, that line caught my attention but no biggie. Of course if that line was delivered in Discovery or Picard today, the social media haters would have a field day with it. The other option is simply respect canon BUT don’t worry if you make the odd mistake here or there. If the show is good and the stories for the most part are good, then who cares if you make the odd mistake. They could make it easy on themselves by making the series episodic. So if they lay the odd egg or make a major canon blunder, then who cares because next week’s show is a do-over. It’s like when the Borg hauled away the Federation and Romulan outposts along the neutral zone in an early TNG episode, but later the Borg apparently didn’t even know about the Federation until Q sent them the Enterprise. In the end, if the stories are good, then nobody will (or should) care. I hope that isn’t wishful thinking.
As a data point, there was *nothing* in “Q-Who” that definitively said the Borg knew nothing of the Federation at that point — merely a line of speculation from Guinan that “now that they are aware of your existence, they will be coming.” And from “The Neutral Zone” and ENT “Regeneration” we know that they were already on their way.
My own view is that Q saved humanity by speeding up that first encounter and giving the Federation time to prepare.
There is some truth to that. The “his son’s wedding” line was odd but it was said before all the other stuff was produced regarding Spock. Further, how do we know it was Spock he was talking about? Could have easily been Sybock or a son he had with his new wife perhaps? So that line, while provocative has an easy ‘out’.
Personally, I can easily forgive a canon misstep here or there IF the story is good enough to get around it. But that has certainly not been the case in SH Trek.
This is so not true. All they need to do is EXPLORE STRANGE NEW WORLDS.
If they do make a Pike series, I hope they have Spock wear that helmet at some point.
When ‘Into Darkness’ was being filmed, I actually wrote to JJ Abrams and suggested that the bridge crew of the Enterprise all wear baseball caps with ‘Star Trek’ written on the front.
He never got back to me…
Would love to see this show happen, if it could be episodic…oh and either Ethan’s real hair or a better wig.
I think the best model would be ENT season 4, which worked really well with a series of trilogies. I’d like to see Manny Coto on the writing team.
Agreed!! They should actually consider rebooting ENTERPRISE / Star Trek but with Manny Coto at the helm. Earth starting out, nuclear power/weapons only, no phasers on stun, no transporters, Vulcans think we are over emotional, Andorians think we are push overs, Klingons want us destroyed, Romulans want us as slaves, first contacts gone wrong, Earth needing resources to rebuild after WW3. Go!
Or they could reboot TOS to better fit with the aesthetic of modern Trek… or maybe just leave well alone. All Star Trek series have their loyal fans and there are plenty of us that aren’t just loyal to one incarnation of Trek. Excising one series or another to placate one group won’t unify the fanbase it will just just further fracture it further and create distrust between viewers and the IP owners. It would establish precedent so why waste time getting to know a new cast of characters if you don’t have confidence that it won’t be overwritten when some future showrunner decides it’s inconvenient.
Agreed, no reboots! I mean they DID reboot TOS, just for the big screen and we saw how much fans fell in love with that ;).
Just create your own thing with your own characters. Pike is different since he never had his own show or films so they can get away with that. But all the others it’s no point of trying to redo them. It’s just going to bring harsh comparisons the second you get it wrong in fans eyes, ala the Kelvin movies.
I still think most fans won’t even like the Pike show if that does happen because it will probably stray too far off the trail like some felt Picard did (although most seem to like it at least).
Exactly Tiger2 and that was an in-continuity reboot that still preserved the original, imagine the outcry if they’d just overwritten TOS but kept say TNG and Voyager as canon. You’re inevitably going to be correct about Pike, like Picard it’s pretty much universally wanted by the fanbase, how can it not be divisive lol. I think Trek is now at a stage where it is impossible not to have division within it’s fandom and paradoxically it’s that ingredient that it needs in order to remain relevant and fresh that causes so many fractures – different flavours.
The Kelvin films proves the LAST thing you want to do is reboot something. And of course they DIDN’T overwrite TOS, they bent over backwards doing the very opposite…and yet people STILL complained lol. Because it still wasn’t TOS enough in their heads. Now imagine if they did, if they straight up said this is now prime canon and everything from the original show is irrelevant today, fans would’ve lost their minds. They can’t handle Vulcan being destroyed in another universe because that simply never happened in TOS. There are still fans that want that universe ‘corrected’ to fit the canon of the prime universe even though they know its a separate universe so what does it #$%& matter if it’s like prime or not???
If fans are THIS upset over a set of movies in a different timeline, it would make it a 100 time worse redoing the show or any show. Either just keep everything in continuity OR make it clear if they reboot it its in its own universe so people won’t fly off the handle when the new show confirms Sulu and Chekhov are actually lovers and Kirk has a half Andorian kid who lives with him on the ship. You’re only asking for trouble.
As for Pike, yeah we all see it coming lol. Of course they should still totally make the show because we’re all watching regardless and in thats all that matters. And maybe they will surprise us. But after seeing with what happened with both Discovery and now Picard, I’m just not as hopeful now. Again both of these shows could be loved in the end and I don’t think Picard is hated, just more disappointment than anything. I’m just not holding my breath a Pike show is going to be anymore or less loved with the same team aboard and fans becoming more cynical.
I’d say ST 2009 was a great success!! After Nemesis and Insurrection were getting no traction, ST:2009 rekindled interest and got it over $300MM in revenue. Unfortunately the follow up, Star Trek Into Darkness, was so anticipated that it got the target audience…. but it was horrid (and this is coming from a TOS fan!!!). The legendary villain Kahn turned out just to be a poor disgruntled guy trying to get his family back while the big E lasted like 6 seconds in combat. They had the audience and they blew it.
The morale of the story isn’t that reboots don’t work, it’s that if you reboot something to bring back exploration, adventure and hardship…. you then proceed to bring back exploration, adventure and hardship!!!
This happened with ENT as well. I actually gave up on Trek only to be brought back in with ENT because that just HAD to have exploration, adventure and hardship…. nope, peace with the Klingons, dumb time travel again, phasers on stun and transporters in hour one.
I have up prior to season 3 which ironically was good, kind of like Beyond after Into Darkness. Too little too late though.
“I think the best model would be ENT season 4, which worked really well with a series of trilogies. I’d like to see Manny Coto on the writing team”
Agreed, but Manny Coto will never be back working for Trek because he does not pass the political purity filter zealously upheld by the current stakeholders of Trek.
Is this why we now get poor Kahn just trying to get his family back from the evil Starfleet Command firing photon torpedoes at Qo’nos from the neutral zone and a Picard willing to program robots with emotions that he can have slaves building his evacuation fleet? They really need to give it up and focus on the stories.
They need to remember that stories have beginning, a middle, and an end and that all stories don’t need 10 or more episodes to tell the story. One-episode stories are ok.
That’s just not how most TV works anymore. YEs you still have shows like that but those are becoming the exceptions not the rules. And when it comes to streaming, that’s not the business model. They want people to stay tuned in from the premiere to the finale.
If Star Trek was on CBS and not All Access, that might be possible. But as long as it stays on that site all shows will perform in this manner like nearly all the cable shows do.
Even if it were on the CBS network it would STILL have an overriding season long arc. The difference is it would have time to still have standalone episodes that had an element that advanced the overall story arc. Enterprise did season 3 that way. But when you only have 10 episodes you pretty much have to get right to the point.
Although STP seemed to sputter coming out of the gate. I still think season 1 could have easily been 8 episodes.
Hurray!!!! The 1701 with Pike / Number One and Spock would be fantastic with that bridge set. They should also consider doing Robert April and George Kirk miniseries of Diane Carey’s Final Frontier and then transition to Pike
Just sayin’ (and I say this to everyone who uses the expression) remember – everyone who drank the Kool-Aid…died.
(and yes, for you history purists out there, I’m aware that it wasn’t actually Kool Aid but some off-brand grape drink)
It’s a really unfortunate expression.
It seems that many who use it weren’t old enough to see the angst-ridden television broadcasts wondering about what was going on and could there be survivors followed by images of bodies and bodybags in rows.
My parents felt that the news was important, and I probably saw much that I shouldn’t have at a young age, but those images stayed with me.
TG47 – Yup. And I’m going to guess that most people don’t even know what the expression really means.
I’m old enough to remember…
There’s even TREK lineage in the Kool-Aid line. When Paramount fired the first VFX crew from STAR TREK-TMP, some joker put packets of that drink in the slots where the paychecks and/or timecards were supposed to go. Was probably one of the earliest Guyana-inspired jokes on public record.
Seems to apply well to most of TNG outside DS9. Lol
Pike series > Section 31
Star Trek’s spirit will live on with the first and wither with the latter.
Mine would be Pike/Number One/Spock/1701 > Discovery > Picard
Section 31 should be in a burning trash can where it belongs lol.
Pike series is the true spirit of Star Trek in every sense of the word.
Section 31 should be in a burning trash can where it belongs lol.
Pike series is the true spirit of Star Trek in every sense of the word.
yeah I think a section 31 series is a HORRIABLE idea
The thing is, s31 is a marketable notion, which makes it a WhoreAble idea.
Plus it actually worked wonderfully on DS9, deepening the trek universe w/o cheapening or weakening it, and in at least one TOS novel.
But in less deft hands, the best you can hope for is a journey Into Darkness.
And by toplining empress Hitler in s31, they’re essentially crowbaring JR Ewing into TREK, and that might be the wrongest notion of all.
Yeah Space Hitler is just not doing it for me either no matter how many times she crack jokes. It just feels so wrong to have a character like this leading a Star Trek show, even if its S31.
I think most people would love the DS9 Section 31 version as a show, but then how do you keep them interesting when all the mystic is gone? You now have DIS version of S31.
DS9 Section 31 is my favorite.
I’m just anxious about the rumours circulating in March that Avika Goldsman would develop and be showrunner of one of the new live-action series (presumably Pike’s Enterprise).
As much of a fan as he is, especially of TOS and TAS, his public statements about Picard have been super disquieting for me.
I really hope that he isn’t given this role.
That rumor is probably not true but anything could happen.
I’m cautious about what path Star Trek could take. Very concerned about Star Trek going forward especially after Picard. CBS should hire a different person as showrunner instead.
I’m not a fan of Avika Goldsman either.
Studio politics is kind of like… politics. The most incapable people keep getting the jobs (also see: Eaves, John).
Well, it just goes to show that just because someone is good to work with, reliable and loves the franchise does not mean that he (and isn’t it typically a male Caucasian) is the best person for the job. The old boys network still has deep roots.
I really respect Kurtzman’s commitment to diversity before and behind the camera, but even with that there seem to be some genuine blind spots.
So, let’s just call it out and ask for Kurtzman to double-down on reaching for more diverse leadership.
Let’s not make this a matter of skin color, again… where that leads is definitely not a better place. Favoritism and intellectual laziness are pretty much universal human weaknesses. I recently read a pretty devastating ripping of Akiva Goldsman on AV Club, which together with the first comment of someone claiming to have worked for him paints a very logical picture: the guy may be completely devoid of any creativity but he is an absolute workhorse AND sociable. The latter qualities are far more important in Hollywood (and anywhere else, too) than the former, if we are honest.
I’m most sure people like John Eaves or Jeff Russo also excel in the latter department, explaining why they keep getting job offers despite questionable output. Contrast with that the fan favorite Ron Jones and his stellar music, who however had problems with working with the tight TV schedule, and delivered (too) late.
It’s unfortunate that creativity and discipline are rarely found in the same people, and they may even be mutually exclusive. It goes a long way to explain why what we get from the “dream factory” is more and more corporate product, and less and less art.
It is really starting to look like SH is more concerned with maintaining diversity (in looks, not ideas) in hiring far more than they are concerned with the best overall ideas for Trek. I find it hard to believe they cannot maintain their “diversity in looks” quota and still provide a quality product. Why can’t they?
I’ll never forget he gave us Batman & Robin. *shudders*
I hope the Pike show consists of stand alone episodes as opposed to a serial. It would be a nice break and get back to old school Star Trek.
I think most people on this board is in agreement with Peck. At least certainly more than a Section 31 show lol.
Hopefully it will happen. In what form and when who knows, but we all know we’ll see these characters again. That’s practically a guarantee at this point.
Both Peck and Mount were perfect casting. Whatever for some reasons I’m not a fan of the casting of Number One. Although I like the actress I don’t like her in this role. My dream casting would be Aubrey Plaza she could bring some bizarre black humor to that role. Not to late to cast her as Colt, I think she could handle that role also quite perfectly.
I liked Romjin much better as Number One in the Short Trek Q & A.
It seemed to be much more consistent with the characterization in The Cage than what was written for the character in Discovery S2.
Please no, they’ve done enough destroying that era of Star Trek, there’s plenty left to destroy in the TNG/VOY era, maybe when they’re done with that they can find a way to destroy Enterprise, maybe with a really poorly put together Romulan War film.
Well on the plus side at least when they are taking out the TNG/VOY era they are doing a public service.
That era will always be the biggest era of Star Trek and adored by millions of fans. It’s never going away just because people like you can’t seem to understand how diversity works in a franchise.
This guy was one of those clowns who wants the entire franchise limited to TOS, like those SW fans that don’t like anything except A New Hope.
Add to that they’ve destroyed every era now, so welcome to the club.
Given the show’s Lewis Carroll references (a callback to Vonda McIntyre’s earliest best TREK work, assuming the writers actually read?), Peck should have claimed to have fallen down the Trek rabbit hole rather than invoking Guyana.
Or if he was aiming the remark at younger audiences, he could have been lost in the Brier Patch, which would also be a sop to TREK.
No, somebody just watched Star Trek. No reading of McIntyre necessary. Actually it is a callback to TAS “Once upon a Planet”, where Spock mentions Amanda read Alice to him when he was a child.
Really? Didn’t remember that at all.
But reading McIntyre would still be useful for them. I’d love to see any shot in currentTrek that carried the weight of her description after Kirk is shot in THE ENTROPY EFFECT, which goes something like, ‘blood spattered the illuminated data screens.’
I like the idea just fine. I just don’t trust the showrunners/writers Kurtzman-Trek provides to do it well.
YES! We need a Pike Series!!!!
Pike Movie reboot could also be a success. They have a great team!
Id say on a movie do Diane Carey’s Final Frontier with Robert April and George Kirk
Be Careful What You Wish For. They’ll give us a Pike show, but it’ll be the same “10 hour movie” soap opera melodrama fest that Discovery and Picard are. They don’t understand that that’s not what we’re asking for. People like Pike because he represents a return to something more old fashioned. We want a old school episodic Star Trek show, exploring Strange New Worlds every week. It can still be done and work today. Look at The Mandalorian.
you do realize that the Mandalorian is one big story, right? Exactly the thing you are slamming Picard for.
Not sure about that – while “The Mandalorian” had an overall arc, many episodes had self-contained stories which were easy to follow even if you’ve missed one. What you’re saying is almost like “X-Files is one big story” and hey; maybe this wouldn’t be totally untrue, still there were plenty of self-contained “episodic” … you know, episodes – which had not much to do with the overall so-called “mythology” arc.
Pass. I’ve lost all confidence in the current producers to make quality Star Trek. They’ve proven repeatedly that they cannot.
Let me tell you something once again, Kurtzman, et al.
STAR TREK PIKE NOW!!!
Forget Section 31. Forget Picard.
STAR TREK PIKE NOW!!
I’m not a fan of Picard or the idea of a Section 31 show, but there should be room for many different types of Star Trek. And yes, the Pike show is the show I want the most.
Dude, if you don’t like Discovery, Picard or happy with the idea of Section 31 you’re probably going to be just as disappointed in a Pike show. It’s still going to be the same people who makes all of them. I just find it funny that people think its the character or setting that’s going to make a show or a movie series suddenly successful. Haven’t that been proven well false by now?
Pike could be a great show or it could be the worst one in the franchise. It’s going to depend on the actual ideas and stories they tell for it, not how much people like Anson Mount or being on the bridge of the Enterprise again. I mean people love Patrick Stewart, Picard and being in a post-Nemesis setting and yet many still feel disappointed in the show itself.
Here Here!
Is Mr Peck in any way related to the late Harold Ramis? I’m getting mad Egon Spengler vibes off of that last picture…
I’m also not confident in KurtzTrek enough to really wish for that, unless some things in Hollywood change. “Picard” was a whole deconstruction of the character, not much unlike Luke in “The Last Jedi”. Even Pike had little authority on the Discovery, but Ansom Mount played him really well and competent, even with these silly scripts. He sure did a great job, that’s for sure.
But then again my biggest gripe with both Discovery and Picard doesn’t even have to do with their political approach – it’s the bullshit plots which raise thousand of questions every second – which ultimately never get answered. They never thought anything to end end and just ignore things for their convience later on.
From what I understand they still have three years left in the contract in which they can try best ramming Star Trek into the ground as hard as they can. I can hardly wait for the three years to be over. At least there’s a hope that someone will take over with more respect for what made Star Trek great in the first place.
I never noticed this before, but Ethan Peck sounds a TON like Lee Pace, disconcertingly so.
I wish whoever does the hair would actually bother to take a look at Nimoy’s in the original series. This just looks like a very average cosplay attempt at a Vulcan! Other than that, like so many others, would love to see a spin-off show with Spock and Pike etc. on the Enterprise. But make this a full season of stand-alone episodes instead, and leave the arcs to Disco and Picard. I really miss the self-contained episodes. Star Trek just seems better suited to them. Would be great to give genuine science-fiction writers a crack at the scripts too, as in the original series. And allow the Enterprise and the series music to be a character too! Have really missed those two factors in the majority of modern Trek.
Peck’s hair in the final episode of Discovery Season 2 — shown above in the second photo where he’s sitting at the science station — seems OK with the huge exception of the sideburns. The other photos are from his Short Trek where he wore what appears to be a rather cheap wig.
I think a Pike show with standalone episodes (NOT a season-long arc) would be more entertaining than either STD or Picard. As others have said, you can go back to TNG and pick out a single episode to watch without having to know what happened before that. You really can’t do that with the current shows.
I’m good with arcs so long as they involve exploration, hardships, conflict and relatable characters. The TOS era actually screams arcs with first contacts, need for dilthium crystal, galactic crises, etc. The best era for arcs though was actually the ENT era with the formation of the Federation which is why I think they went back there… only to ignore the entire concept and write bland TNG for the most part again. The best ENT episodes were the ones where the writers tried to reinject the prequel concept but too little too late. Hopefully with Discovery season 3 we get a “rebuild the Federation” that’s more ENT than TNG… though in doing so they’ll pretty much have to ignore Picard which won’t make any sense (as irrelevant as Picard himself is the whole AI = life concept and the fact everyone should now life forever, have super strength, breathe in space, etc should have changed the universe).
Too much Spock is bad for the stock.
VIAC 52 week range ($ per share):
$53.71 to $10.10 ($15.80, Friday’s close)
ST.09 created an opportunity and they flushed it down the toilet. SAD.