While it didn’t get its own dedicated panel during the Star Trek Universe event at Comic-Con At Home, there was still some news revealed for the highly anticipated series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Work started on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
As he introduced the Star Trek Universe panel executive producer Alex Kurtzman gave a brief update on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The new series set on Captain Pike’s USS Enterprise was officially announced in May, but Kurtzman revealed that work on the show started a year ago:
Obviously, we heard the fans. I really wanted to tell everybody about it last Comic-Con. People were poking around and asking questions, and we couldn’t say anything. But we were already having real active conversations at that point.
Alex Kurtzman introducing the Comic-Con@Home Star Trek Universe panel
There is no date for release or production start, but Kurtzman also gave a brief update on progress for the writers’ room:
The room has started. There are 10 stories broken, which is very exciting. They are just sort of at the beginning. But it was one of those shows that I think everybody came in with such enthusiasm and so much love.
Kurtzman’s comment could indicate that the first season of Strange New Worlds will comprise 10 episodes, just like the first season of Star Trek: Picard. That would make it a bit shorter than the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery. And even though they have 10 stories broken, that still means a lot of work has to be done to write the actual scripts.
It has previously been stated by the producers that Strange New Worlds will be more like traditional Star Trek shows, with an episodic structure and an optimistic tone.
When the series was announced, CBS revealed the series premiere was written by Akiva Goldsman with the story by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet. Goldsman, Kurtzman, and Lumet will serve as executive producers in addition to Henry Alonso Myers (The Magicians). The writers’ room also includes Akela Cooper (The 100, Luke Cage) and Davy Perez (Supernatural), who will also serve as co-executive producers.
Strange New Worlds stars Ethan Peck (Spock), Rebecca Romijn (Number One), and Anson Mount (Captain Pike) from Star Trek: Short Treks
UPDATE: Mount and Peck talk about Pike and Spock’s future
Later during the Star Trek: Discovery portion of the panel, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Ethan Peck and Anson Mount spoke about the development of their characters during season two of Discovery and into the future.
Discussing Captain Pike’s journey, Mount said:
The biggest thing, obviously, was seeing my future, and when you see how it’s all gonna end and that it’s not so pretty what do you do with that? There’s a reason we can only see our past. We’re a very neurotic species; we wouldn’t know how to comport ourselves. I think ultimately the question comes down to: how do you move forward? I think he’s probably going to wrestle with how he can best utilize the rest of his life for the good of… the world, the universe.
Anson Mount at Comic-Con@Home Star Trek Universe panel
Ethan Peck talked about how important Michael Burnham is to the development of Spock moving forward:
Spock’s interaction with Michael Burnham is essential to transforming Spock from somebody who’s been born on Vulcan who’s half-human that has been taught to be Vulcan. And I think Michael Burnham gives him the permission to be human. And teaches him what it is to be human.
So that essential to the development of Spock, all along, the conflict between his emotion and logic… going forward into when we first see Leonard Nimoy in The Original Series. It’s a huge character point for me and will dictate a lot of behavior for Spock, because of his interaction with Michael.
Ethan Peck at Comic-Con@Home Star Trek Universe panel
More from Comic-Con@Home
There is a lot of news coming out of the virtual Comic-Con. We will have more updates as the day goes on. Keep up with all of TrekMovie’s Comic-Con@Home coverage.
And keep up with all the news and reviews from the new Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com.
I wish Star Trek: Strange New Worlds came out in 2021 but I can wait.
What a shame they have to use the butchered 1701 design from Eaves. Pointless nacelle pylon cutouts and all.
I like that design. Better than the JJ-verse one.
I agree, better than the Kelvin timeline one.
That design may evolve.
Could be worse…as many have said, it’s better than the JJ mobile.
You must really hate the TMP design seeing how the disco redesign resembles that design more than its Original tv show design.
I love both the TOS and refit designs, but this thing is FAR from the best of both worlds. Not bad compared to the 09 monstrosity, but that’s setting the bar so low an inchworm could get over on it.
I actually think I prefer it to the TMP refit. Oh, how I missed those beautiful, round iridescent bussard collectors!
The DSC Enterprise was much better looking than the 1966 one. There I said it.
Great news! Loved the design of this Enterprise. Close to the original but fresh, and I feel has more connection to Phase 2 and TMP.
yes. they really got a good and fresh vibe in that design. it’s sooo much better than the big E seen in the kelvinverse-movies. really looking forward to SNW.
I do like the ship.
The original version gave me too much of a 1950s ocean-going ship vibe: large, grey curvelinear surfaces.
We’ve got two separate threads at the very top talking about this ship. Has someone shown some revised promotional artwork I’m not aware of?
S’What?
Given the importance of Number One as the first female command-line officer in Trek and the importance of DC Fonanta’s role in writing for TOS, I’m really surprised that they have so far announced a writers room led completely by men.
Heather Kadin and Jenny Lumet don’t sound like they’ll be in day-to-day roles with the scripts.
I was coming here to cheer that the work is well underway, which lines up with the preproduction work in train in Toronto, but what?
Perhaps they can get in a Canadian female Supervising Director EP in Toronto to balance it somewhat. (A female supervising director would be a first.)
Some people have speculated that this show would be the new series to give comfort to the straight white male market niche. Given how widely Pike, Spock and Number One, the Enterprise, and the idea of SNW are embraced, it would be really unfortunate if that were the case. Not to mention that Anson Mount an Ethan Peck are authentic allies in diversity.
More, I find its a really unfortunate signal, however unintended, to suggest that this will be the testosterone jacked series in the menu.
Straight white men are not a niche, they are the single largest fan group. Black women are a niche and they are getting 2 series heavily focussed on them.
Discovery and Lower Decks are full of black women. Some black men too.
It’s not about the shows being “focused” on black women. You should be able to see yourself reflected in characters no matter what color they are. Discovery isn’t made for a niche audience because it has black leads. It’s made for you, the Star Trek fan, which would be true regardless of who is the main character.
Tell that to TG47. That person is against White men being represented.
I’ll bet Tezna doesn’t even realize how much of a bigoted, misogynistic incel he comes off as with these comments.
TG47 I thought you were Steve for a second there. Because Steve is obsessed about straight white men.
Diversity is the gold standard of Star Trek.
That’s right Ninja.
Diversity is core brand for Trek, and I’m not hearing as much as I’d hoped for the announcements so far for the creative team for SNW.
I do see now that my first look up of Aleka Cooper misled me to identify her as male (my bad). Davy Perez is male and identifies as Mexican-American.
But given the WGA efforts to expand writers rooms, and the need to get creative input and perspective beyond the American experience, they could and should do more.
Tezna, I don’t know what Trek events and conventions look like down under, but I can attest that even 30 years ago the fan base in North America was fairly gender equal.
The straight white male audience was never sufficient to carry the ratings, even if the network TPTB in the 60s and 90s felt the need to put women in cat-suits to hold their attention.
CBSAA knows who watches and where they need to build audience. So, now diversity and not catsuits. But I’d also like for more women and POC to being putting words in the actors mouths and directing them.
Did they announce writers?
See above. Some but not the full room.
With all due respect, TG47, your fascination with the ethnicity and gender of the behind the scenes personnel seems a little too obsessive. Sure we are all in favor of equality of opportunity but you bring it up out of the blue so often that if seems as if you think a diverse cast and BTS staff would certainly result it a superior product. As if they could just get more “diverse” then the shows would be better. Sorry but the fact is the diversity of the staff has no bearing on if the show is good or not. That rests on the QUALITY of the staff. Not their ethnicity or gender.
And again, that is not to say they shouldn’t be on the lookout for fresh talent from anywhere. Just that they really shouldn’t be looking at their gender and race like you feel they should.
ML31 I agree about quality as a priority, but I believe that you are arguing a false trade off.
I do accept that diversity in many dimensions increases creativity, avoids groupthink and produces better work. There’s a lot of evidence in the management field to support that.
It’s also a fundamental value in Star Trek so I’d like to see it put into practice behind the camera not just on-screen. There are a few folks here who are whinging at least once per thread about how there aren’t enough white men in speaking roles on-screen (which I find facepalm-worthy). Meanwhile, Secret Hideout could still do much better behind the scenes.
More, I don’t buy the implication that the lack of diversity among senior creatives across the industry is just because a certain demographic that’s been privileged is overrepresented.
WGA and other guilds in the US and Canada have been drawing attention to the challenges their members have in getting the initial experience to climb the ladder. That means that those hiring need to make the extra effort to reach out to bring in diverse talent and use unbiased selection methods (such as spec scripts and stories with the writers names removed) to find talented writers outside their network.
I’ve been around enough to see the effects of systemic discrimination in my own very different field and how it’s impacted the career paths of fellow students. (For example, if you aren’t aware of the stories of discrimination in academia search why Larry Summers had to resign as President of Harvard, or why MIT was put under the supervision of the courts for their treatment of women in science. Blatant discrimination has been established as fact in those cases, and POC can face yet greater barriers.)
More, I’ve worked on the other hand in large organizations where hiring managers and executives are held accountable for promoting diversity. This means implementing bias-free hiring practices and working towards having the proportion of various groups in the organization become reflective of the proportion of people in the job market with those qualifications (i.e. specialized education).
For Trek, that would mean having the proportion of directors, writers, composers and production people reflect the proportions of women, PoC, people with disabilities etc. who graduate from film school, music programs or fine arts programs. There’s definitely a ways to go even though CBS is providing internships and other opportunities.
All very noble. But there are plenty of industries dominated by one group across many countries. Here in Australia the vast majority of Doctors are Asian. There are virtually no White doctors in the major cities – only in small country towns. Yet I don’t hear anything about arguing for diversity there. Same with Women dominating nursing and teaching. It seems like its only needing ‘diversity’ when White men are the dominant group.
I live in Australia, and that is not even remotely true.
Remote. Ha ha. I see what you did there.
Obviously this touches a nerve with you. Your response did not change the impression that you seem to bring it up an inordinate amount of time. But I guess we all have our pet peeves. Just pointing out that it is noticed.
Actually it’s not so much as my own nerve, as my liking this board and being concerned that the frequent refrains of “not enough white guys” from a few regulars may be driving other voices away.
It feels as though something that is self evident and mainstream where I live and work is a radical concept. I can understand how just the repeated expression of views like Steve’s could effectively be gatekeeping.
Most of you know me as a balanced, analytical and reasonable poster. Perhaps the fact that I’m feeling the need to post once per thread on this issue to voice some balance is evidence enough that the the comments on this board are leaning to too far the other way recently.
Sincerely, sometimes, I just don’t get how so many people could have grown up watching Trek but internalized so few of its principles really.
You are inventing arguments that don’t exist. No one has said they don’t want different types of people. What you are saying is you want to get rid of the already limited White male presence in these series. You do realise that they are already a minority in them?
Yes, I was going to reply to TG47, but you made my point there ML31 (you guys sound like droids…). The point is, sometimes the best people may very well be straight white men. Sometimes they can be black women, … Let’s not make an issue of it. The only issue would be if they avoided hiring people based on ethnicity, sexual preference or gender or if their choice was based on those criteria. Let the dice fall where they may…
Yep. We all want equality of opportunity. And we have pretty much achieved that. But it is foolish to think that leads to equality of outcome. Just because a population is about 50-50 male female does not mean that once everyone has the opportunity to be a science fiction writer doesn’t mean that the male-female ratio of science fiction writers will be 50-50. That just isn’t how things naturally fall.
Don’t worry TG I have an inkling that if they decide to cast the Kirk role for this show they might go for color-blind or gender-blind casting options. They need to have their own Starbuck.
Diversity encompasses white men as well as coloreds. I’m black and I even admit that.
Well as to the show having three white leads (which does feel like a half-step backwards, not unlike ENT was), this is something fans probably should have given thought to when calling for Pike to be developed as a full TV series.
I don’t have any strong opinions on the other points raised, except to say that with all the vitriol both ST and SW have gotten from certain factions for having an “agenda” (right, both franchises want to appeal to the widest demographic possible, that’s just filmaking), ST should remain as diverse as possible and not appear to cave to the preferences of such factions. Which I ordinarily wouldn’t think would be a problem.
Isn’t STD already the testosterone jacked (er, speeding bullet) of the menu? Surely they haven’t implied that about SNW?
I wouldn’t worry too much. Their directors pool has at least 1 female getting her fair slice, a women appears to be involved at the EP level, and the first two shows of new trek had female involvement at most levels as well. But, you cant win everything, right.
Was hoping to hear more but at least we know they are already writing for the show. And it sounds like ten episodes will be the standard for all Trek shows going forward minus Discovery since PIC, LDS and now SNW all seem to all have ten a season.
It’s strange how Section 31 is barely even mentioned out loud these days although they keep suggesting it’s still coming. Is it though? They just had a panel of three of the shows, at least said something about five of them including the name of the new cartoon but S31 didn’t get a mention from anyone, including from Yeoh, the star of the show.
How do you not mention a show that has been in production for over a year now?
I don’t know that it’s been greenlit officially. Do they even have scripts? I hope it gets put on the backburner. I have zero interest in that show.
Well that’s the weird thing because IIRC they said they were already writing for the show WHEN Discovery season 2 had started. This was over a year ago now. Cut to today and not only has Discovery filmed an entire new season, but two more shows has been shot since, PIC and now LDS. Entire shows has come and gone and they haven’t even said if this show is going to be in production any time soon.
So yes maybe it is on the back burner, but then in the official press releases it’s still included with the rest of them. My only guess is if it’s still being made it’s going to happen AFTER SNW and we still don’t know when that show will premiere. It could be next year but I’m guessing that show won’t show up until 2022 although I guess late 2021 is possible if they start shooting it next year. But S31 could literally be years away now at the rate they are going.
Section 31 should be put on the back burner for now. I have zero interest for a Section 31 show.
To be fair, just because one has no interest does not mean the show should be killed. I personally have no interest in the Section 31 show either and wouldn’t shed a tear if the entire thing was halted. But I stop short of saying it SHOULD be delayed or nixed. There are some people have have expressed interest in it…
I don’t think that show is going to happen. The majority of fan input on it seems to be negative, and much of the positive input is very mild. That’s got to seem like money which could be better spent.
Maybe not but as I said it still gets mentioned in press releases. But yeah maybe they are just doing it to let people down gently….the fourteen people still excited for it. ;D
Bryant, the folks here and on other boards aren’t the breadth of Trek fandom.
“Majority of fan input” on boards doesn’t tell us anything those who might be attracted to this show.
I’m not overly enthusiastic about an S31 series, but I do recognize that it’s got its supporters. I’ve definitely seen and heard them at cons. Whether or not it’s a big enough niche is something that only market research could say.
It does sound like the there was an issue either with Michelle Yeoh’s availability or the draft pilot such that CBS wasn’t ready to greenlight a 2 season buy. (I’m inferring Yeoh would want a two season minimum commitment if she had to turn down film projects for S31.)
Or, it could just be that SNW in an episodic format could be out of the gate more quickly and contribute to the merged ViacomCBS’ strategic priorities of building the audience base for Trek and CBSAA in the United States. That is, franchise timing priorities would need to take a backseat to ViacomCBS’ bigger strategic picture.
It could also simply be the fact that they are waiting for an opening in the schedule of Michelle Yeoh. She is an international star and is quite busy all over the world all through the year.
Yeah but they can just say that. I mean all people are wondering if a show is still being made or not. It’s kind of odd no one just said they are still working on it when this is the biggest Trek event to happen since NYCC last year. And I was the one who was saying the show was definitely getting made 6 months ago. But now I’m not so sure.
It’s so strange to be so cryptic about a show that has been in pre-production for over a year and a half now. It’s starting to feel like the fourth Kelvin movie lol.
It doesn’t sound as though it’s still in preproduction Tiger2.
It’s clear that a pilot and a season outline was done and work on preproduction started in Toronto in January, but by March the Toronto folks all show in the guild sheets as moving to SNW.
So, the ViacomCBS management haven’t greenlighted the series, and the official public word is that it’s still “in development” . Perhaps just a delay, perhaps a reworked pilot, or perhaps they are taking the opportunity to get the whole season written before the start producing.
Clearly, Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt are writing.
I’m wondering though if they and the folks in the S31 writers room that they were reportedly setting up have been working in the meantime on other SH projects whether Discovery S4 or one of the others Jenny Lumet is developing.
For the record, greenlighting a show or movie only mostly means that a budget has been approved.
Well I’m just saying pre-production in the broadest terms. To me that just means until they have a cast, sets and an actual filming start date (which we have still heard zip about any of those) then most likely it’s still in the developing stages outside of writing.
But maybe what you said is true and they are reworking some things or trying to write the whole season out before they start like they are now doing with Picard in season 2.
Either way this show seems like it’s going to take a loooooong time for it to happen now. It only took Picard 17 months from its original announcement to airing of the first episode to happen…which this show has already been in longer production than that show was.
At the rate it’s going, Picard might make it to season 3 first lol.
I’m hoping they realized their initial concept for it was flawed (mirror universe impostor becoming a trusted covert operative?) and they are taking time to rework the show.
Scott’s reconciliation of what it means to be human isn’t underway when we see him in TOS. He begins his journey toward that reconciliation in STTMP. As excited as I am about this show, they’ll lose me real quick if they try to alter who Spock was in TOS. If you’re going to tie to existing canon, then honor it and don’t try to retcon this stuff. I like Discovery, but don’t love it. I thought Picard was terrible Star Trek. Please don’t mess this one up guys.
That’s supposed to be Spock’s reconcilliation. Sorry.
I kinda agree. Spock really didn’t start to change until TMP. Up to then he was always trying to stay in control and be a good Vulcan. I like how Nimoy only had Spock express his friendship for Kirk and McCoy only very reluctantly and very rarely. That is how he should be portrayed in SNW for the entirety of the show.
But… we know Spock was willing to risk the death penalty for Pike. So to if they take that relationship seriously they have a lot to work with. Spock may have had a lot of problems we never knew about – like any adult.
The only thing the show should really explore regarding Spock is how his relationship with Pike was forged. My feeling is that with his falling out with his father Pike very well might have filled a father figure role for him. Hence, the extreme loyalty. Other than that, I do;t see a lot they can do with Spock’s characteristics. Maybe good writers might be able to mine something. But I have doubts SH writers can.
Yes, I REALLY want to see a very Vulcan Spock in SNW. And really, Kirk is the one who teaches Spock about humanity, so Spock has to be left in his Vulcan state throughout SNW.
Given that this Spock is very young, and given that he’s had a falling out with Sarek, Spock could have hints of a father/son vibe with Pike, and that would be nifty, as long as they make it subtle and don’t overdo it.
“Strange New Words”? The adventures of Starfleet’s lexicographers, boldly defining what no one has defined before?
(Typo in headline, possibly fixed by the time you see this.)
I would think the way Pike should look at that future is to believe that the future isn’t written in stone. That it can be changed. There is no guarantee that is where he will end up, even though we the audience knows he does.
Actually that’s not true since we know once he took the time crystal from the Klingon monastery to stop Control it literally said his fate was locked in. So in his mind, it’s a complete guarantee where he’ll end up. He just accepted it.
Of course, the Klingons could have been wrong.
Or lying.
That’s how I’d look at it if I were Pike.
Why would they lie though?
Either way Pike believed it and since we obviously know its true, it’s not really much to discuss.
Exactly. I think having Pike see his future, and accept it, was probably the smartest thing DIS did. The audience already knows what’s gonna happen to him. It’s a common problem with prequels. He’s gonna end up in that chair at some point. But having the character also know now, catching him up with the audience, is a real clever way to make the show’s prequelness actually part of the story.
Yeah, I think that was the point. Basically the show was just telling us they know this has to happen in canon and now that Pike knows and ACCEPTS it they can just tell whatever story they want knowing it is what it is.
I mean sure we can have all the philosophical debates about it but everyone knows regardless this is what is happening because the second you veer from that you are only going to bring yourself a level of hell no one is prepared for lol.
Ironically this is a big reason why people like me don’t really like prequels because we know where its going in a very specific manner. BUT I think this was a smart way to do it because now he knows it too and it adds an extra layer of development you wouldn’t normally have in this situation. So I’m good with it.
“Why would they lie though?”
Because they don’t want people taking their time crystals willy-nilly?
If that was the case, then they wouldn’t have given him one in the first place I think.
It is in fact the definition of a time crystal: a fixed point/event across all possible timelines.
Perhaps but how can you live your life like that? He HAS to figure it can change. I mean, what if he just puts a phaser to his head? What if he goes with the landing party into a severely dangerous situation? Should he just lead the charge knowing he can’t be killed because some time crystal insisted that was not his fate? Something tells me this is they way he will have to look at things.
Pike is not the type of character to ever try to kill himself. As for getting in dangerous situations, I doubt he would be thinking he can’t be killed. More likely he’d think every time that this could be the one. This could be the situation that puts him in the chair.
Regardless, I also don’t think he would ever be the type to let his fate control him. He’s always going to do what he believes is the morally right thing to do. And if that puts him in the chair, so be it.
He does know the situation that puts him in the chair. So he could easily “jump on the landmine” as it were for a crewmember. But if he bought the time crystals story as for sure 100% certain fate then he would do so knowing he would survive somehow. This is why I think he is not going to let that vision get in his way. He HAS to believe that fate is not written in stone just to perform his duties on a daily basis. And yes, I agree that he will not let it control him for that reason.
Oh it showed how it happened? That’s a shame. I only remembered him seeing his future deformed self in the chair. Of course, leave it to DIS to undermine itself even when it does have a good idea. Simply not showing him the details would have solved this issue I think.
Yep. They showed him barging through the door into the flaming room to save some cadets. He knows the circumstances. If they only showed him the result and not the cause or even when, THEN they might have gotten away with it. But he was shown EVERYTHING. The only way out of it is for him to not buy into that fate. That he still had free will and that future was not ordained.
ML31,
I’m not really disagreeing with you, but they ALREADY made it clear that’s what he accepted. Maybe now that it’s a full on show we might see some of these type of discussions play out, I don’t know. But as far as Pike is concerned right now, he knows there is a certain fix point he can’t escape or just accepted he won’t try to escape.
I get your point though and they already questioned something like that in the Discovery season finale when he and Cromwell were trying to decide who should stay behind with the bomb on the Enterprise. He basically all but said he didn’t he was willing to stay behind even after seeing his future and knows but Cromwell decided its not worth tempting it.
So I guess this can play out in some way but end of the day we all know where it’s going regardless.
I think the better way to look at at that future is the same way that we all view our own mortality. We all know that death is in our future, but that doesn’t mean that life isn’t worth living in the present. Pike just has more details of his ending than we do of ours.
If I was told how I was going to meet my demise, does that mean I would not get killed if I constantly put myself in high death rate situations? It just doesn’t make sense that he would accept this. It would make it very difficult to live your life. INHO STD showing him his end was a huge mistake unless he just doesn’t buy it.
The Strange New Worlds cast not only needs to be more diverse in terms of its humans, they need at least one Andorian in the crew. After TOS introduced us to Tellarites and Andorians, we have had six live action Star Trek franchises, and five of those series pretty much ignored Andorians and Tellarites. Only ENT bothered to remember who the founding Federation species were. SNW is just a few decades into the Federation’s existence, so there should be more Andorians and Tellarites in this Star Fleet. Tellarites are less agreeable, to be sure, but certainly we should be able to see what at least one Andorian in is like when serving aboard a Star Fleet vessel.
I’m with you.
There’s still a lot of exploration possible with both the Andorians and the Tellarites.
Enterprise had great Andorians, and Discovery’s Tellarites, especially in the Short Trek “The Escape Artist” , have been really intriguing. But we still have more to learn to know them as well as Klingons or Bajorans.
Yeah you’re spot on.
Oh I agree. That’s one of the rare things Enterprise did right exploring the Andorians and to a lesser degree the Tellarites. So I’m all for more stories with them and would welcome both with open arms as main crew members of SNW.
With you as well!
It’s one of the best things Enterprise did and made the Andorians a real intriguing species instead of just the goofy looking background aliens in TOS. I especially loved their relationship and mistrust of the Vulcans. The Tellarites didn’t have as big of a role but were obviously on their way to being more developed by the fourth season. And I’m going to admit right now I didn’t even remember the Tellerites at all on TOS until I saw them later on Enterprise. I didn’t really care about these species before then but I got really invested in them, especially the Andorians which I still want to see more of.
In fact while I was not super excited of Discovery being a TOS prequel, one of the things I was actually excited about is that we could see more Andorians and I was hoping they would expand them as they did on ENT but sadly they basically just became background characters again; another huge disappointment with that show for me. But it looks like they showing up again in the 32nd century so I’m hoping they have a real presence there.
Hopefully we will see more of them in SNW.
One thing I was not a huge fan of was how Enterprise took one line from Sarek in Journey to Babel and hung it on Tellarites as a societal characteristic. But still… I’ve always wanted to see more of the TOS aliens….
Uh, you gotta jog my memory here. What did he say in that episode and how did it relate to Enterprise?
When the Tellariate was asking how “Sarek of Vulcan” voted on the Coridan admission. One of the things Sarek told Gav was, “Tellarites do not argue for reason. They simply argue.”
I’ve often wondered if they made this true across the Tellarite culture to avoid having Sarek apply a sterotype across an entire species.
If this is going to be “authentic”, they really shouldn’t have so many Aliens in SNW. Given that Spock was the only non “Earthling” crew member (for lack of a better word) in TOS, it seemed so strange to have so many in Discovery, especially as this was basically in the same timeline as TOS..
Also, Enterprise is a smaller ship than Discovery…at least I think so.
Oh well, it will be what it will be and we’ll find out when it begins.
Until then everyone: Live long and prosper!
Stuff like that has been retcon awhile ago to be honest. Even Archer had a Vulcan and an Denobulan on his ship 100 years before Kirk. I guess because technically neither were in Starfleet so you can sort of make the case Spock would’ve been the first official Starfleet alien but as you just pointed out Discovery shattered that issue regardless now.
In TOS, Spock probably was suppose to be the rare non-human to be in Starfleet. But that never seem to be the case with any other series like the Kelvin movies and now Discovery. Aliens are well represented there just like the 24th century.
The impression I got in TOS was there was an alliance of planets but they all had their own fleets that worked together when needed. For example, the Intrepid was manned by Vulcans. Spock was on the Enterprise and was the only one but I wagered there was the odd human on Vulcan or Androian ships out there. If for nothing else but to keep up some sort of cultural exchange or something.
It also makes sense that by the time TNG came along the fleets combined into one UFP sponsored Star Fleet. There were more aliens on the ships. Although they were still mostly staffed by humans for budgetary reasons…
Enterprise (NX-01) was also 100% human save for Phlox and T’Pol. But then this was before there was a UFP. But it fit with leading into what TOS was. As a prequel I applaud them for getting so many things right about the canon. Yes there was the odd mistake here and there but overall they did pretty good. Unlike…
Leave it to Discovery to blow all that out of the water. When one looks at Enterprise, TOS and TNG you can see a progession. Throw in Discovery and the entire progress goes out of whack. Good job Secret Hideout!
I actually agree with all of this. I too think in TOS the idea was that in the Federation every planet had their own fleet of ships for exploration/defense and Starfleet could’ve just been a fleet out of many. That’s basically how Enterprise was setting up the early Federation since we in fact did see not only Vulcans but also Andorians and Tellerites with their own fleet of ships for such purposes.
But yes as time went on with the TOS movies and later TNG Starfleet seem to be the most important fleet throughout the Federation. And probably the most diverse as well since even now we RARELY see humans on other ships like a Vulcan or a Trill ship in the 24th century for example. Starfleet seems to be the one organization every alien species in the Federation flocks to join.
But yes Discovery has already changed that idea since Starfleet is very diverse in this time period and has seven thousand ships which probably makes it the biggest fleet in the Federation. I always assumed in TOS there were suppose to be a lot more ships than were shown but I thought in the hundreds at most. Discovery has definitely proved that wrong lol. But it must be the biggest because how else could you explain ONLY Starfleet ships showing up to fight the Klingons in The Vulcan Hello? This has always been a pet peeve of mind in general though and that for some reason ONLY Starfleet ships shows up for these major battles even though they are defending the Federation and galaxy as a whole. DS9 was the first show to even show ships outside of Starfleet fighting battles, in this case the Dominion, even if it was still mostly Starfleet doing the heavy lifting. But I know in TOS it was probably mostly a budget thing and can only show off so many ships. That’s clearly not an issue anymore.
But I think Discovery basically just followed the TNG era model of Starfleet and really not the TOS model. Which ONCE again shows why this show would’ve just made more sense in a post-Voyager era from the beginning. It would be easier to buy not only the vast size of Starfleet is in this era but also all the vast amount of aliens who serves in it along with the advanced technology but that dead horse has been beaten enough. ;)
I will just say that while Kirk said there were 12 Constitution class ships I just figured those were by no means the ONLY ships in the fleet. I figured there had to be hundreds of others. It just made too much reasonable sense. So I think we can agree that Discovery really is the oddball of the bunch when you look at the other shows in their era. It’s the only one that stands out as not belonging. In so very many different ways.
And I still don’t think sending them to the future solves their problems. But that’s just me, I guess. Obviously the producers think those old issues are now dead.
Yes I never understood how anyone can believe a space organization that has been around for at least a CENTURY, part of a vast alien alliance which also not only explores the galaxy, checks in on hundreds of Federation colonies but also a big defense force against the Klingons and the Romulans can do all of this with just 12 starships? It makes zero sense on its head. Roddenberry was a WW 2 vet and clearly where a lot of ideas were shaped from when he thought up Star Trek and from that POV doesn’t add up at all.
America wouldn’t have had so much influence in the war or the world after that with just 12 planes, tanks or ships. Clearly Starfleet is a representation of America in a post-world war alliance with others but instead of countries like NATO and the UN post WW 2, it’s with other aliens in the Federation in a post Romulan war scenario but also became the biggest deterrence in the Cold war with the Soviets, but in Star Trek’s version it’s the Klingons. America would have been very low on the totem pole in those alliances and not seen as major threat to Russia or anyone if it wasn’t for its vast resources even if others had more at the time.
Maybe in TOS Starfleet wasn’t suppose to be the biggest fleet like it was by the TNG era but it had to be big enough to be relied on as it were or Starfleet would just be that organization that mostly does supply runs between a few colonies or a border patrol unit; not the force that was always standing up against the Klingons with so little ships and resources.
And if it was just 12 starships in Starfleet, why in the world would there be a CLASS of ships if there were only a dozen of them in the entire organization? What’s the point of naming them the Constitution class if that’s all there is? Maybe there is only 12 of those and 20 other classes of ships? I just assumed the Constitution classes were their most advanced and biggest ones and why there were so few of them just like you don’t see that many Galaxy class ships. I wish some people who truly thinks this due to a single line of dialogue thought a little harder about it.
As far as Discovery, yeah it did alter the state of Starfleet in the 23rd century by making it a much more bigger, diverse and advanced organization. I mean look at Section 31 in this time? Even THAT is much more advanced and resourced than what we saw it 100 years later in the 24th century. They didn’t have a fleet of ships or could build time travel suits lol. So people can try and pretend this is what Starfleet always was but basic evidence proves this just wasn’t the case. What we know about S31 alone disputes that. DIS version of Starfleet even feels beyond the 24th century version in many ways.
Now that said, this is a much more realistic version if you believe the opposite view that Starfleet was this little scrappy organization with just a dozen ships and barely had enough resources to get from system to system….while somehow still able to fend off against advanced and centuries old warp capable empires like the Romulans and Klingons. That makes even less sense to me.
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
I hate the fact that everyone of the characters sounds American, even the bloody aliens. Does no one have a different accent from other regions of Earth in anytime frame you think about. ST Original, Enterprise and DS9 had the token British guy. The original cast was the most diverse group put together however only one of them was really not American, so, really only UK, US and Canada get a look in as show is made in Canada and like us kind of demands a number of the people working on a project must be from our country. Yet still American sounding. However the ST universe itself is heavily biased towards American sounding actors. I think it stinks really stinks and it is arrogant really really arrogant. I have turned off ST so many times because they do not follow the real philosophy and have lost the path of equality amongst other things. I do the ST Cruise and I love it, so much fun however don’t bother looking for the actors they hide away like they are gold or a precious metal. Rude. I gave up doing the cruise to meet or get photos or even participate, our group of Aussies just have a bloody ball and forget about the actors. They don’t want to talk to you, they get paid to do that and they are weird really weird and soooooo arrogant worst of them all Marina Siritis who threw a really nasty racist remark out there at one of the tables in the Casino which she was host for but did not even stay to play on the last table with the winners. She is not nice people not nice at all, I gave her a filthy look and left my chips on the table and left. Don’t even eat me started on Jerry Ryan who was bitchty enough to ask me to move from my seat at a blackjack table so that her actor friend could sit down. I left that table too. These are not nice people you are all getting your britches in knots about. Not the first time I have heard racism come out of Marinas mouth. I don’t approve. But I do approve this message………. Please for the love of god stop making everyone sound American, it is not a true representation of Earth at large or seriously Aliens speaking with American Accents (seriously people seriously) especially given the different times you are creating for the Trek world. The percentages of men to women who work as actors on Discovery is fairly encouraging however if you look back at the other Star Treks they are heavily geared toward American sounding men. Sorry to any Canadians however, I also cannot tell the difference between Canadians and Americans except when they finish a sentence with ay or say abooot instead of about. No shade to our Canadian cousins, it’s not there fault they are North of disaster. ST is suppose to be about diversity and creating a Universe predicated on peace. Well you stuffed that one up as well. There is more scheming and backstabbing going on in discovery that it is hard to keep up with who’s knife is in who’s back. Say what you will but Aussies and Kiwis can tell the difference between our accents it is not hard, I don’t mind people thinking I am from NZ because Jacinta Arden Rocks, strong leader with a strong will. Just sick of all the ass slapping American male domination in a universe that is suppose to be diverse in cultures that is not just bloody Earth. Seriously how many real Aliens are onboard any ST ship permanently I would say 5 to 1. This is just a little rant about the issues I have with Star Trek right now, Have at me people I don’t care. The casting is wrong, the actors are wrong, the Aliens are pretty much nowhere to be seen and if I have to listen to any more Klingon I am going to shove the pages from the script down someone’s throat. I don’t watch to read and I don’t give a rats pattotti about it being authentic because you lost that race as well. Seriously hire me to cast your shows and I am sure to be way more friggin diverse than your casting people. Just call me annoyed. Have at me dweebs. Said the same thing on the boat and it made a lot of people think. Just think about the discrimination/slap in the face, non are recognized NZ is recognized as a penal colony on Voyager seriously messed up, do you read history not a good look. Look outside your boxes and really watch every single one of the shows and you will see… Read more »
Thanks for dropping in and sharing your view Mary Jane.
You’ve brought up some concerns that I’ve shared about global representation.
Sometimes it feels like Trek’s senior executives, of whatever era, are despite their best intentions very much caught up in the concept of American exceptionalism, and the Federation becomes just becomes an extension of that. I really liked it when DS9 and TNG challenged Starfleet on being humanocentric, and at least 90s Trek did not encourage British and Irish actors to completely eliminate their accents.
I’ve never been on the cruise, but my experience of cons is that the actors are always seeing it as work. They are in their bubbles, and I sincerely find the idea of paying to interact with someone deeply uncomfortable. Some of the writers and technical folks who offer presentations seem much more approachable.
I enjoy the panels, and in many ways the virtual cons we’re getting with COVID are better for me.
Wow. OK. It’s fair to have a different view. Or at least it used to be here in the States!
But really, I don’t think it unreasonable to expect American accents from an American show. I’m assuming you have an issue with a Frenhman having a very British accent.
The only solution I can offer is to watch the shows dubbed in other languages.
There’s a lot of different ways of speaking English…
Mary Jane isn’t complaining that she doesn’t understand, she’s complaining that the future as portrayed in Trek is American.
She’s saying that Star Trek is making all the actors use fairly neutral American accents (even when they aren’t American), whereas she’d like to hear some authentic diversity, including Australian and New Zealand. I’d add South African and South Asian too.
For the most part, television tends to wash out regional dialects, especially North American television. That’s not necessarily a good thing, even for Americans.
The US exports a lot of entertainment globally, which isn’t necessarily good for the rest of us.
More, when Americans make science fiction shows about the future with the implicit assumption that everyone has become American, it can really grate.
The Expanse has made the effort to avoid this, and it’s working well.
Clearly, Roddenberry tried with TOS (even if the accents were pretty fake), and however it happened we have a Yorkshireman unabashedly playing a Frenchman, but somehow from then on Trek has lost sight of the Federation and the best of humanity being from anywhere but the the US.
I am aware that she was not saying she doesn’t understand. I felt that was obvious. She was complaining about how American an American show is, though. The comment about listening to the different dubs was a tongue in cheek comment meant to satisfy her concern that they all have American accents.
Don’t limit your thinking to the present Earth. Maybe people in the future are better at speaking the same language than they are now and accents have disappeared? The world is supposedly more united in the future so homogenizing the language could be a likely outcome.
It is possible that English (already the international language of business and aviation) in the future will be even more widely spoken on Earth than it is now.
Here’s the thing–
We never saw Pike again after the events of The Menagerie.
When we last left Pike, he was perfectly fine–just trapped on Talos IV. If he leaves Talos IV, he goes back to the beeping chair. But he’s still fairly vibrant and capable while ON Talos IV.
It’s great that he has a girl and they can create a nice life together, but there is no reason that 23rd century science can’t cure him after those events.
Pike could absolutely have a future.
“And I think Michael Burnham gives him the permission to be human.”
Whoah THANK GOD MICHAEL BURNHAM!!!
…phew.
New writers who specialize in magicians and the supernatural and superheroes. Gene Roddenberry would be proud.
Both TOS and 90s Trek recruited authors from other genres including horror and suspense.
Nothing to see here.
I read in an interview long ago before Bryan Fuller got the job on Star Trek, he was more interested in writing horror and supernatural stories although he liked science fiction. And his resume after Voyager ended basically confirms just that.
Good writers can write for any genre. Science fiction is definitely the most challenging by far but it’s no different than any other genre once you devote yourself to understand it no more than Star Trek itself.
Brandon Braga was with Ron Moore at a con I attended in the early 90s after DS9’s first season.
He was newer with the writing team then, and talked about his interests in suspense and Twighlight Zone type stories.
Rene Echevarria was another I recall.
Is anyone else getting a bit worried that Strange New Worlds might never be made?
Why?
It’s set to be done in Toronto.
Production of other major series is already underway in British Columbia.
Ontario has allowed outdoor film and television production in stage 2, and Toronto is very close to meeting the requirements for stage 3.
The actors not currently in Canada will need to come across and quarantine, but otherwise it’s likely to happen sooner than Picard in California.
I cannot speak for anyone else but I’m not worried about it. Eventually things will get back to normal.
It would be cool if they would use the Neutral zone studios sets (TOS) to show how the newer look is influenced by the timeline change from Voyager’s episode “Futures end”. They could be involved in the change and it could be one of the only know allowed “tweeks” to the timeline, allowed by the Federation Temporal bureau. (need the tech to beat the Borg/ Control or whatever… I’m available to write… lol…
I am way Way WAY beyond excited about this!!!
I kind of wish they would switch to 16 episodes per season, but do it as two 8-episode story arcs. That would also allow them to take a one or two month mid-season break and spread the show further out over the year.
This fan would be good with that.
I am so excited about this, absolutely love the new Pike, Spock et al. and the updated Enterprise just looks incredible. Can’t wait for it…