Interview: Terry Matalas Talks Challenges & Starships In ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 3 And His Dream Spin-Off

Star Trek: Picard executive producer Terry Matalas came up with the idea of turning the third and final season into a sendoff for the Next Generation crew. TrekMovie had a chance to talk to the showrunner at the Hollywood premiere about the challenges of putting the season together, why the season isn’t set on a ship called Enterprise,  and his hopes for a spin-off.

[Minor spoilers ahead]

Now that you are finally here at the Hollywood premiere, how does it feel?

It’s a bit of a relief, actually. We set out to do this over a year and a half ago. We finished it about five months ago, in the late summer. So we’ve just been sitting on it. And so it’s kind of like, ‘Finally, fans are going to get to see this, and I shall be judged.’

You are very engaged on social media with the fans. Would you say that there is any aspect of season 3 that is in response to or at least cognizant of fan reaction to the first two seasons?

You can’t really do that. For me, I just had to make a Star Trek that I wanted to see. Hopefully some fans or all the fans like what I want to see and hear and feel as well. It’s certainly different. But it also honors what these original creators set out to do in season 1, which was to do an elevated serialized television show for today with Jean-Luc Picard.

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Your concept for season 3 required a lot of buy-in from a lot of people, including the TNG cast. Was there anyone that provided more of a challenge to convince?

It was pretty much an easy yes for everybody. There wasn’t a real struggle. I think everybody’s heart was in the right place, yeah.

You have said you had no plan B, so if one of TNG crew said no, would you have pulled a “Welshie”?

I don’t know what I would have done. That’s an alternate universe I don’t want to live in. So we’re here.

Developing the TNG characters over two decades later was a lot of work, was there any particular one that was the hardest to crack?

None were really the hardest to crack. I would say the most intricate is Beverly Crusher’s story of the season. That required the most thought and the most discussion. Not just with Gates [McFadden], but also with Patrick [Stewart] and many of the others as well. But not in a divisive way. It was more like, ‘Let’s get it right.’

Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher.

Now you’ve openly spoken about a “Star Trek: Legacy” show. Is there a pitch document somewhere for this follow-up series?

There’s nothing like that in development. I have ideas, certainly, for what I would love to see. But it’s up to the television gods if the world would love to see something like that. But yeah, I would love to stay personally. If I had my wish of wishes, I love this time period. I would love to see more of Seven of Nine, I would love to see a story of the next Next Generation, if you will.

Patrick and Alex suggested there could be a continuation. Would that be a season 4, or if it were to continue, would it be something new and different?

Look, anything is possible. Fans have made Star Trek things possible since the beginning. So anything’s possible. There’s nothing like that happening right now. But, make it happen fans, it’s up to you guys.

You created a new ship to be the main setting, which is the USS Titan, but the Enterprise F also shows up. So, why the Titan and not do the season on the Enterprise-F?

It seemed a little obvious for one to just be hopping right back onto an Enterprise. And I liked the ownership of a former Riker command. It felt really interesting that Riker would kind of use his sway to get on board. But you know, keep watching.

If you got your spin-off, would it be on the Titan?

You just got to keep watching the show.

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More Picard coverage

There are more interviews from the Hollywood premiere event coming, including series star Sir Patrick Stewart. Check out previously released Picard purple carpet interviews:

We will be posting our regular recap/reviews on a weekly basis, starting with the first episode on Thursday, February 16, and each week our All Access Star Trek podcast will discuss the latest episode, starting on Friday, February 17. Our Shuttle Pod podcast crew will also discuss the upcoming season. Until then, you can read our spoiler-free review of season 3, written by Mark. A. Altman.

The third and final season of Picard premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., and Latin America, and on February 17 Paramount+ in Europe and elsewhere, with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly. It will also debut on Friday, Feb. 17 internationally on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.


Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.

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Instead of traveling 900 years into the future ( which is still a huge mistake in my opinion), Discovery should have traveled to the TNG age. Then we would now have a kind of “new next generation”

If the Discovery writers got a hold of the TNG era, Michael Burnham alone would have:

1. Defeated the Dominion with a super suit

2. Brought Voyager back from the Delta Quadrant with no crew involvement in 8 episodes.

3. Went back in time and somehow wiped Picard from history in his academy years … assuming his identity and being a much much better captain in his place.

1)
and make Sisko unemployed? :)

2)
Perhaps, they would found a solution with Discovery tail Voyager in it’s shadow while doing an “Black Alert” jump

3)
No, She just needed to Jump at the Point back in time with Picard and Q. You know the point with his heart. He just need to succeed as the “chicken” Picard and he would never raise into Command . forever Blue Uniform. No need of Wipe this Picard from timeline. Just finish was Q has started

I kind of love how Picard looked in blue. Maybe they should have dragged that out with Riker in command for a season until Q snapped his fingers again … yaknow … for me!

I expressed myself misleadingly. I meant, of course, that it should be set in the same timeframe as Star Trek Picard.
As for the spore drive, I never liked that drive in the Star Trek universe. I would have liked to see its no longer be usable. For example, because of a detrimental impact on the network or a complete collapse.

Well, there was the option of running out of Fuel. But they just need to find this Moon again to solve this problem

I’d buy into that happily. I always wished TNG had rolled back on replication because it was bad for space-time. (they had been looking for an environmental show like the warp drive is bad for space thing from s7 as far back as season 4, but I guess they didn’t want to uproot the whole universe, cuz I pitched this and a show about space garbage, where a planet == us in about a couple decades? — has so much crap in orbit that it is too dangerous to go up there out of fear of collision factor. I had hit on the idea from seeing something — possibly the only good thing I recall — like that in the otherwise horrible EARTHSTAR VOYAGER pilot. (a point to you if you can remember what STAR TREK vet directed this mess for Disney.)

Back on point: The whole ‘something for nothing’/magic box aspect of replicator tech seems like a dramatic cheat and moves the characters so far out from the way I can perceive and experience life that I actually found it one of the most distancing aspects of 24th century life. (DS9 gets a pass from me because, well, it is DS9, and did stuff like PAST TENSE and In-a-gadda-da-vida (sorry, I meant INTER ARMA ENIM SILENT LEGES.)

Hahahaha — nailed it.

In seriousness, I do think Sim has a point. I haven’t really followed Discovery beyond reading reviews on here (I gave up watching after S1), but it seems to me that their solution to the problem that (supposedly) led Trek into the past post-VOY (i.e. that Trek-nology was increasingly either 1. conspicuously retro compared to the present-day, rooted as it was in 1960s sci-fi or 2. so magically powerful there’s not much drama to be had, so the solution was to stop moving forward in the future and do prequels) is not even wrong. They came up with a few interesting ideas (programmable matter), and covered themselves a bit with the post-apocalyptic angle, but didn’t really show much imagination overall, and jumped forward so far in time that it’s sort of baffling that there *weren’t* more advances. For example, after hundreds of years of propulsion experimentation (soliton waves, quantum slipstreams, transwarp networks, spatial trajectors, etc.) dilithium is still the only fuel anyone can use. And, there don’t seem to be any major alien powers around save for the ones the make-up designers got good at in the first seasons (Orions, Andorians, Vulcans/Romulans), notably (and bafflingly) sans Klingons, and a couple random cameos. It’s all just tremendously under-imagined. And, if it’s indeed “the” Prime timeline future, it sort of takes the suspense away from everything set before, and just serves as a big bummer — we know Earth won’t explode, but we also know the galaxy is destined to fall apart even if the good guys win.

Jumping Discovery forward into the early 25th century would have been the right call. I just hope that something happens onscreen, on Discovery or Picard, to make it so that there’s another timeline split, and we find out that Discovery’s future isn’t the (only) “real” one.

For a moment, that’s where I thought they were going in “What’s Past is Prologue,” when Stamets announced they had emerged from the mirror universe into the prime universe, but in the future.

I fully agree it’s all under-imagined and, frankly, somewhat dull and tedious. I hate the post-apocalyptic setting. I hate that we’ve seen no new major alien races (save for the ones beyond the barrier, of course), let alone Klingons or Delta Quadrant aliens.

And while I didn’t see a Great Need for a prequel show to begin with, I really hate the fact that they teased us with a Pike-era show, only to say “just joking!” Why on earth did we invest two years of our viewing lives into that plotline? Shades of Bobby Ewing in the shower.

Still, if they were going to do a time jump, the immediate post-Nemsis era would have made more sense.

Did we see any Gamma Quadrant ones either? I’m only aware of the one episode of Prodigy.

ETA: forgot the Karemma and Wadi appearing in LD.

This. Good points brought up here. One of the biggest problems I have is that the dystopian 32nd Century sort of invalidates everything thats come before because why bother saving anything if its all destined to fall apart anyway? Its like the stakes are meaningless now.

Keep your day job my friend, because regarding that recent audition you had at the Improv, well, they ain’t calling back.

lol isn’t she incredible?!

It’s ironic that a lot of people clamoured for Discovery to jump to the future and then when they did it- people complained about it.

That said, I do see why the 24th century might have appealed to a lot of folk for the time jump but it might have been too much with TWO live action Treks on top of TWO more animated shows taking place in the same timeline or there abouts.

I never clamoured for Discovery to jump to the future. I was in favour of them creating a divergent timeline where they could do whatever they wanted with the 23rd Century, the Control Crisis creating the timeline we saw in TOS and then Discovery can continue on in an alternate one.

I always thought that First Contact split the timeline rather than created a predestination paradox. Enterprise would have to be in it due to the borg wreckage, and the divergence widens by the time Discovery/SNW comes around. I suppose use of the SNW Enterprise in Picard would indicate that Picard is in the split, too.

Though I’m not sure if the E returned to its origional timeline or just further along in the changed timeline for Insurrection/Nemesis. This is where I go cross-eyed.

A predestination paradox means it had already happened, there is one timeline that loops on itself. The Enterprise always intercepted the borg in the past and the events of Enterprise always happened the way they did

It’s not ironic at all, that’s just Star Trek fans these days. They say they want one thing, because they hate whatever is being made, and when producers give them what they say they want, they complain even more.

Truth is, I agree with Ron Moore. As a writer, you shouldn’t ever listen to fans, they never know what they want. Do what you think is best, win or lose.

I’m someone that wanted Discovery to move into the future and I’m really happy they did. I’ve been enjoying it. BUT I would rather have a TNG/DS9/VOY fan make a show in that timeline.

But you know, they do listen to fans in a general sense. I certainly think the warmer tone of TWOK was a direct response to fans’ perceived somberness and humorlessness in TMP; and when after TROK fans commented that characters beyond the three leads didn’t have enough to do (except Chekov), those characters were given their own little arcs in III and IV; and following Search for Spock fan chatter asked for more location shooting, not just sets, and IV gave us that. I think producers pick up and sometimes incorporate general vibes from fandom, if not specific plot points.

Every time I watch TMP, I like it more, and after seeing it again in the theater last summer, it’s pushing into “favorite Trek movie” territory.

TWOK had relatively little humor, in any event. It was TVH (and, to a lesser extent, TFF and the Klingon dictionary scene in TUC) that stuck out like sore thumbs.

Yeah they listen to fans all the time. They been doing it since the TOS movies, in every Berman era show and certainly today. Every post-Discovery show is basically a response to fans either complaining about something or want to see more of. Discovery itself has made the most changes of any show since probably ironically DS9.

It’s not ironic at all, that’s just Star Trek fans these days.

While I can only speak for myself, in my view, that’s not the point. People may have wanted Star Trek to move forward, into the future; they just didn’t want a *post-apocalyptic* future.

And then to find out what the cause ultimately was.

And this is the problem with giving fans what they say they want. Give them something, and then they ask for something even more specific.

“Move into the future”

*moves into future*

“NOT THAT FUTURE”

The mistake is to think of fans as a singular collective intelligence. You’re just as likely to get varying opinions on anything else under the sun, especially on the internet. People couldn’t even agree on what color that dress was several years ago.

But yeah, all the more reason to not listen and go your own way.

Exactly. I say this all the time, fans aren’t a monolith. We ALL want different things. But you will certainly get at times where even various camps will still collectively want certain things, but even that isn’t straight forward, just a general idea.

Everyone seems to want more want more post-Nemesis shows for example, but what that looks like can be wildly varied.

While this is absolutely true, at the end of the day a series just has to get the fundamentals of good plotting, characterization and dialogue down. The setting is irrelevant so long as those elements are falling into place, and changing it isn’t going to massively upend anything if it doesn’t noticeably affect those fundamentals.

Picard, Discovery and Prodigy all have taken big swings at shaking up their status quo, and the most productive discussions hinge on the above.

Well, they still have to deliver on the actual storytelling regardless of time and setting. Jumping ahead with TNG in the beginning was a novel idea, too, but that didn’t automatically make it a good show. They still had to work out the kinks.

Exactly.

And for those who did, the disappointment was that the premise was disappointingly executed.

Considering Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Picard (and possible Picard spinoffs) are already doing that, it would kind of make Discovery redundant.

I would have liked that too. More possibilities for crossovers and connecting threads between shows in ways that make sense. Instead of what we have where Lower Decks can’t reference Prodigy and Prodigy can’t Lower Decks and Picard can’t reference either.

Maybe create a situation where things are even more wacky and crazy than normal and the only other captain that could help them is Carol Freeman. Or have them discuss the aftermath of the Living Construct. Or even discuss the automated ships and what’s going to happen there.

I don’t think they need to reference each other though. It’s a large quadrant/galaxy – we don’t need Picard to randomly mention events from 20 years ago about the Cerritos crew.

I don’t agree with that. Every single show as they are right now feel like they exist in their own bubble and that’s not a good feeling to me. After all TNG/DS9/VOY all referenced each other in some way. That’s all I want.

Well said. The last thing we need to hear in Picard season three is some BS hijinx reference to an annoying crew member of a secondary ship from two decades previous.

Discovery is good where it is. It’s where it always should have been.

Agreed. The issue for some is that they aren’t doing enough with the 32nd century premise but I have no issues of it being there, especially when we have three (and probably soon to be four) shows in the post-Nemesis era.

No. Look, I enjoy Discovery for what it is but No. I would rather the continuation of that era be made by someone who is and has been a Star Trek fan and understands what Star Trek and particularly that era were about. People like McMahan get it and I think Terry does too based on his social media and comments.

I always find it funny and the biggest irony to me that when Discovery was announced to be a pre-TOS prequel that some people liked the idea because they thought (naively) the show would be more ‘grounded’ or wouldn’t rely too much on super magical tech, etc. And then the third episode of season one we get the spore drive lol. The most magical tech Star Trek has had since transporters and holodecks IMO. And season two it got even worse with time travel suits and super advanced AI computers.

So I was happy when they moved it to a post-Nemesis setting. It should’ve been there all along. Now while I have my issues the show still, the one thing I’m truly happy about is it being in the 32nd century. I still love the idea of it very much because it’s just completely new and they can do anything they want. For people like me who just wants to see Star Trek NOT rely on what we seen before or a dozen legacy characters in every show, it’s why going forward is appealing to a lot of us. That said I don’t think they needed to go 900 years into the future lol, but they wanted to be clear of all known canon which is more appealing. We haven’t gotten that since literally TNG.

But sure, I think most probably would’ve wanted the show where Picard is now, but you probably have to blame that on Fuller. I suspect the show would’ve been in the 24th or 25th century if Kurtzman crated it.

“always find it funny and the biggest irony to me that when Discovery was announced to be a pre-TOS prequel that some people liked the idea because they thought (naively) the show would be more ‘grounded’ or wouldn’t rely too much on super magical tech, etc. And then the third episode of season one we get the spore drive lol.”

Ugh, yes, they totally screwed up Discovery.

We have three shows in the TNG era right now. I’m happy to see Discovery exploring a new era.

They’re gonna rename the Titan-A the Enterprise-G at the end of the show aren’t they

That would be so very, very awkward from an in-universe perspective. A big old middle finger to the history of the Titan ships that were only temporarily good enough to rate a letter.

I hope not. But I do get this vibe that the Enterprise-D will have more than just a brief cameo.

Could also be a feint and in reality it is Commodore LaForge who comes to the rescue with the USS Challenger (including a classic Galaxy bridge module)

“One of the advantages of being a Commodre is you get to choose your own ship… and the interior.” ;-)

Yea please bring back the Enterprise-D!!!!!

Close. Rename the Titan-A to… U.S.S. PICARD, possibly after his death.
Star Trek: Picard could continue, albeit now referencing the “new” ship.

Or maybe. Don’t rename the Titan at all and build a new ship named that.

USS Skywalker

I agree with others, that would be really weird. And why would you change the name in the first place?

My dream spinoffs of specifically PIC elements include:

* A show taking place in the 2020s, with Rios, Teresa, and Ricardo fighting for medical equality. It would have elements of M*A*S*H, The Fugitive, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Poker Face.
* A Raffi/Seven show set on La Sirena, where they conduct missions for the Fenris Rangers. They could take the fanfilm series Star Trek: Aurora as something of a template, mixed with some of the Maquis storylines in DS9.
* Kore and Wesley’s adventures as Travelers. Similar to Strange New Worlds, it could be used as a way to fill in the gaps throughout Star Trek history.
* Jurati Borg doing basically something similar to the Fenris Rangers, seeking out those in need and putting Jurati’s Doctrine into practice.
* Elnor, perhaps in the planned Academy series.

Your third choice I agree with. The rest would not likely make for good television–particularly a show focused on Rafi.

About the third choice.There where similar TV Shows in the past of this format

Some Person that travels trough time, played also from Captain Archer’s Actor Scott Bakula called Quantum Leap (TV Series)

The Adventures of Indiana Jones, where some old Man tells some Stories when he was still Young

I think if they plan something like this, it could turn out similar to this kind of Shows. They jump to Key times of Star Trek’s History. But that also would be feeling like Section 31 Time jump Police. As you see, this could be proven complicated :) (Also “Valérian and Laureline1967 French Sci-Fi Comic). So perhaps someone could read them or watch Luc Besson’s “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Movie“). But stick more to the Comics. So every Episode would be “What Key Point of History they fix again?” Reusing the Enterprise C Battle? Sabotage the Klingon Moon to explode to trigger the Chain effects? and so on. As you read. this feels then more like Section 31 Time Jump Police with Valerian and Laureline stuff, too

Sry, for talking like this. But /r/startrek is not my Home anymore.

I’m not sure there is enough of an audience to justify the cost of new sets at the production values of this generation Trek.

That’s why Fuller’s original idea of a time spanning anthology show for Discovery was shot down by the suits.

These kinds of shows (I would add Timeless) don’t ever seem to have a big enough audience.

Time Tunnel in the 60s was the last mass market show from this subgenre, and it only got one season.

Today you can cut a bit of Budget with Greenscreen. But this Monitor wall they used in Discovery would be better for the Actors. So it depends how much Set’s they can recycle here and how much needs to be CGI

It actually occurred to me that Lily Sloane (First Contact) in a story set in the late 21st century could be interesting. There is a lot of hand-waving over how the Earth in the state it was in in First Contact and that of Enterprise and later came about (I suspect noone involved in creating it has ever really been able to decide).

Sounds like he’s been told pretty clearly now from the suits that there’s not going to be a follow up — because previous to this over the last several months he sounded much more optimistic.

This probably doesn’t bode well for additional seasons of the other the next generation era, older fan-targeted show, lower decks.

You don’t miss a beat, do you?

I’m not hearing it that way.

What I’m hearing is that he hasn’t been encouraged to do a specific kind of pitch. The suits aren’t encouraging development until they see which characters the audience responds to.

Also, this whole idea of exercising a provision in Patrick Stewart’s contract to do a fourth season is now in play. It seems that if Picard as a character continues, Stewart wants that principal role and creative control.

I have to say that after hearing Stewart alongside McFadden in some of the brief interviews, it seems he still thinks it’s all about him. Despite the extended family relationship the old cast retains.

I just don’t think he has in any way internalized what the experience was for the rest of the ensemble. They are mostly gracious towards Stewart, even if Gates seems to be actively restraining herself from side-eyeing him at times.

It’s making me want all the more to see Matalas be able to move on in the time period with new characters, while giving the legacy characters more scope to shine without Stewart limiting their potential.

He is so oblivious in some of his statements, it’s stunning.

Gates has spoken repeatedly, beside him, about how constrained her role was as Crusher, how Crusher was not given any arcs in the movies, and how much better the newer shows are for women. But Stewart just sits beside her and repeats how he believed the ensemble of characters got to do everything they could together in 7 seasons of episodes. He still doesn’t seem to get it.

Seasons 1 & 2 of Picard were awful. I could barely get through them. I love Stewart as an actor, but he needs TNG crew to act off of. (Not all actors make good writers or producers, either.) I got the impression he wanted to turn JL Picard into Patrick Stewart. Understandable, but not the best choice for the character. This series should have been about the whole TNG cast from day 1.

He also wanted to turn Picard into Logan and did not want Starfleet/Uniforms or Starfleet ships. The good thing about Season 1 is that Picard didn’t stay depressed … he finds himself and became the Picard we knew as the season went on IMO. Despite some missteps I overall enjoyed season 1.

Season 2 was really rough. There were things I personally thought were fine to watch, but yea..I won’t really defend that season

“This series should have been about the whole TNG cast from day 1.”

And I think if it was up to everyone else, it would’ve been. But I don’t think that was necessary either, not at all. I completely understood Stewart wanted to do something different, which I was 100% for.. But I just think it didn’t really work at the end of the day. The first season had great ideas, many I liked, but everything about season one (besides being pretty bad lol) just felt so niche. Now I think originally maybe the idea was to have one story told over three seasons which at the beginning they said it would be. But then that completely changed. But if that was true, then it could’ve worked better. But seeing what we got I’m SO glad it wasn’t lol.

But most fans just wanted a TNG revival show out of the gate. That was obvious from day one. And now that they finally gave it to them, people seem to be responding positively to it. It still could’ve been bad (their last go around was Nemesis lol) but it was always the most obvious choice.

Most fans today grew up in the TNG era. Most new fans are now watching this show along with LDS and PRO which in term will turn them into watching TNG, DS9 and VOY. With six shows taking place in this era, they can build on that over the next decade if we’re truly getting a lot more Star Trek with a bit of TNG/DS9/VOY legacy characters and the next generation of new characters.

The problem is that no one really wanted to champion Stewart’s vision but himself. He really never has understood Picard’s appeal in TNG and has spent enormous resources trying to adapt the character to something that resonates with him.

Paramount and Kurtzman wanted a Picard show and tried repeatedly to get Stewart to listen to a pitch. He refused repeatedly.

It was only when Chabon, a Pulitzer winning author came up with a Hail Mary last pitch that Stewart was flattered into accepting.

It was a compromise that didn’t have a strong enough vision to anchor the two seasons. Not an abusive situation like Discovery’s early seasons, but not a good management situation either.

I’m not AS negative on Stewart as you are. I think he does understand’s Picard’s appeal, but he also want to create new avenues for him too. Now we can certainly debate how much of it has worked but Stewart always only said great things about the character in general.

But we fully agree it’s not a great idea to hand Stewart the creative side of the franchise as either. Shatner learned that lesson after TFF. But in Stewart’s case, the guy had already moved on from Star Trek and Kurtzman/CBS obviously really really wanted a TNG revival in some form and it wouldn’t work unless he was there. So yeah, unfortunately they had to go his way, at least in the beginning.

But same time, season 3 only exists because Stewart listened. Matalas made it clear it all came down to him and if he said no, we would have a different season now. Maybe still a good one but not this either obviously. So yeah, it sadly took two seasons to get what they could’ve done in season one but I think it took a lot of pressing from Matalas and even Stewart knows they want them all back together. Denying that for his own ego would’ve looked really petty at this point; especially after how bad most fans think the firs two seasons were. It would’ve looked really bad if is instincts would be to triple down? Fortunately he put faith in Matalas and it apparently worked out.

The interviews with both have been very enlightening. Gates McFadden’s frustration with her TNG experiences over 6 seasons and four feature films is on display in virtually every press junket interview she has given for Picard season 3. They all seem to have indicated that TNG, unlike DS9, Voyager and Enterprise, was dramatically limiting.

It’s interesting having just now listened to Michael Rosenbaum’s just released podcast with Jonathan Frakes, understanding how production had been managed for Picard to limit Stewart’s hours on set to a reasonable two-thirds day.

Even if it was two seasons shot back to back, it’s possible, in fact probable, that Stewart never saw the other characters’ and actors’ shining moments until the screeners.

So, he may not yet understand how much more development some of those TNG characters have been given.

Still though, when a costar and friend flatly says again and again however unfulfilled she was previously, it would be gracious to at least say that he hadn’t perceived how much there still was to explore as an ensemble of characters, and is glad to have been found wrong.

There definitely seemed to be a bit of a disconnect.

Stewart really needs to hang it up after this season. The dude looks frailer every season.

I wouldn’t go reading too much into promotional interviews wherein the bored talent usually go on autopilot and I wouldn’t be “stunned” by them either. And let’s get real about the TNG movies — you’re talking about a 7-person ensemble cast plus guest stars and villains in a popcorn movie with action sequences. There’s not much time for the supporting regulars unless the film becomes 3 hours. It’s not surprising that the movies became basically Picard plus Data shenanigans.

This is why the TNG movies never lived up to the quality set by the TOS movies (FIRST CONTACT notwithstanding). TNG was an ensemble cast. TOS never was.

Lets hope this doesn’t turn into a Shatner situation in the long run. While Shatner seems to have mellowed in his old age, Stewart seems to be turning more into the younger Shatner as he is getting older.

I have seen a newer interview where he says he was wrong, after he acknowledged vetoing any reunion of the TNG cast at the outset of the series.

That he can sit beside Gates though and not acknowledge that she and her character were previously underutilized is still quite astonishing.

To the the extent that he just can’t see it from the others’ perspective, it does remind one of Shatner.

I’ve worked in this business for a number of years and part of a showrunner’s job is to deny, misdirect and pull back on statements if necessary or when directed. He can only reveal so much, particularly before the show has even debuted. Keep in mind that half way through season 2, season 3 was announced and already well into production.

So, no, in no way is it clear that he’s been told that there will be no follow up to Picard season 3. We’re just not in the know.

Fully agree with this. They want to keep the focus on Season 3, and Paramount will decide what to do after they see how it’s received. There are very much shades of Anson Mount’s appearance on DISCO here.

Agree. Fans wanted a series with Pike, Kurtzman said that they’re listening to the fans but was non-committal about a series. That seems to be playing out here.

LOL every one else fully gets this. People are already banging the drums for a spin off. Now I fully agree they haven’t decided exactly what that is, but it’s obvious that’s the direction the producers, actors and clearly the fans want to go in next.

And RMB and others who seen all the episodes in a video I saw yesterday says that the last episode lays out what is next for a spin off perfectly. They made it clear it absolutely not only sets up what could come next but in a big way. Man that really excited me listening to them being excited lol.

Paramount knows they have a winner on their hands just as they did with Strange New Worlds.

A good showrunner assigned to a major franchise always knows what makes it work. We’re seeing that play out with every series that’s followed Discovery, it just took a bit longer with Picard.

Having a good series and expanding the market are two different things. Could this series blow up in a big way and really expand the market? Sure, it’s possible.

Is it more likely though that older Trek fans embrace this final season and help to give it good ratings, but beyond that, it doesn’t really capture the general public’s notice and expand the market? I actually think that’s a more likely outcome. And if that’s the case, there probably won’t be a follow-on.

We’ll have to see, but I’m hearing a ton of wishful thinking on Trek websites that mainly older fans comment on. And with all due respect, I think you’re engaging in a bit of that wishful thinking.

And in reading WHAT MATALAS ACTUALLY SAID in this article — NOT WHAT WE WANT TO READ INTO IT — I think it’s clear that he understands that this is the most likely outcome.

Dude you’re so annoying. You don’t know anything, so stop acting like you do. According to you everyone really wants a dozen Discovery spin offs. talk about wishful thinking lol.

Apologies, sorry we’re suppose to ignore each other. It’s just tiring reading the B.S. man and it’s obvious I’m not the only one. Show a link that proves which shows are ‘expanding the market’ beyond the ones you just happen to personally like and/or that it actually something anyone at Paramount ever cited as a factor please? Just one link.

If you can’t do it, then stop making up BS from your head just because you don’t want anymore TNG shows. Your’e so obvious.

It’s so pathetic that you are so excited to jump on me and for the second time in a month ignore our agreement to not respond to each other which I have been fully maintaining. And I must say I’m having so much more fun here since we agree to this.

Thats’s all you’ll be able to BAIT from me — have a nice evening. One of us at least honors his agreements.

So in other words, you don’t have a link then? To any of it that you been spouting off for months now? Wow…shocking lol.

And yet you just keep pulling it out of your ass like it’s a fact. Thanks for confirming the obvious chief. Pathetic.

It’s funny, you claim to hate Trump so much, but you pull the same BS as he does on this boards: you make up false claims, but pretend it’s a ‘fact’, spread it around everywhere and then get upset when someone just asks you for a source to your BS lol. Amazing.

And then of course, instead of just admitting you’re spouting utter BS, which you are, you’re going to just triple down like he does and just keep repeating it anyway? I’m right, right?

I would have more respect for you if you just said you don’t like Picard and LDS as shows because you obviously don’t want anymore TNG era shows (too bad) and want to see them canceled instead of this nonsense you keep pulling. Everyone knows what you’re doing, hence why no one here takes you seriously and believe in your BS. Why should they? You don’t know anything, you just proved it, right? So stop acting like it please. It’s obvious and desperate.

This is why this board needs an ignore button. Seriously.

You proposed the agreement that we were going to ignore each other’s posts, and I agreed to it. I have honorably stuck to that agreement religiously. However apparently you have a different set of rules for yourself with this agreement where you get to depart from the agreement every couple weeks whenever you feel like it and have a little tirade on me. Where I come from, someone who does that is called a fraud.

And so, NO, there is no freaking way I’m going to reward your breaking of our agreement by responding to the content of your message.

Bye…

Because you keep making up lies and BS and I’m tiring of reading it. WE’RE ALL TIRED OF READING IT! Everyone else here is just having a conversation, a normal conversation. And then you show up like always, and make up things because you are so insecure. It’s so bizarre, you can’t seem to accept anything if someone likes something more than you do or hate something more then you. I have never seen someone so insecure as you over freaking TV shows. That’s why you have to make up ‘friends’ at conventions to prove they all agree with you lol. It’s weird.

LDS isn’t as popular as everyone thinks because you don’t like it. But……secretly…..everyone loves Discovery lol. Because it’s not enough for YOU to just like it…everyone has to and you have to pretend it’s really popular which looks beyond desperate at this point. Again… too obvious.

And since you don’t like Picard so now you have to try and bust up everyone’s fun by spouting TOTAL BS because for some reason it’s killing you that this show might get a spin off lol It’s so bizarre. So now Picard is on the chopping block along with LDS.

Do you have any proof of that? Of course you don’t. I just proved you don’t. But if you just keep saying it….

And according to you LDS has been getting canceled every season but Discovery will get to season 10 lol. Can you sound any more insecure????

And dude, you’re the fraud and everyone here knows it. I just outed you. Well no, I didn’t out you, 99% of people here already knows you’re just talking out your ass, I just confirmed it that’s all. ;)

You just showed everyone you just keeping using alternative facts as real facts and then upset because I called you out on your BS. Dude I would HAPPILY ignore you if you could stop this nonsense everywhere you go here. And it’s nonsense, correct?

This is WHY I ignore you now lol. But when you keep saying things you know isn’t true but repeat it 20 times a day here, you should be called out on it…and you are.

Oh but unlike you, I spent 30 seconds using ‘Star Trek’ and ‘expanding the market’ as you like to say and this is what came up:

https://www.startrek.com/news/star-trek-franchise-expands-international-markets

Wow look at that! I guess that’s means they are expanding the market lol. Let me guess, it doesn’t count right?? No, no, of course it doesn’t. Because ‘Discovery’ or ‘SNW’ isn’t in the heading. correct?

But doesn’t ‘expanding the market’ means literally putting shows in NEW markets Einstein lol. That’s how it works right? They are paying a lot of money to do just that. So, your entire premise is false anyway.

Again, you’re obvious. Too obvious man. And it’s gotten tiring to read by probably half this board by now since you’re the one who repeats your BS as ‘facts’.

“Is it more likely though that older Trek fans embrace this final season and help to give it good ratings, but beyond that, it doesn’t really capture the general public’s notice and expand the market?”

Dude, you’re insufferable. Where did you pull this from? Oh yeah, nowhere other than your own backside lol.

Guess what, I have new convention friends and they all agreed that Picard in fact does capture the general public notice. But unfortunately, they informed me Discovery does not (sad face) or that it expands the market either beyond the 40% of even more older Trek fans who thinks the show doesn’t actually suck. See? I said it without a lick of proof, but with enough confidence and authority like I have a remote clue, so therefore it’s true anyway. ;)

Again, this nonsense is just pathetic. Just say you don’t want another show man. At least it would look like you have some integrity instead of just making shit up out of thin air lol.

Halo was pummeled by critics and fans of that franchise. Many would argue that it’s not a good series but it’s now the highest rated on Paramount+ with consistent viewership from week-to-week. A show doesn’t have to be good, it just needs to drive growth, whether it’s ratings or subscriptions. Generating a lot of buzz is also a big plus.

Which brings us back to Picard season 3. Picard season 3 has generated as much buzz, excitement and goodwill among fans and critics as the lead up to Strange New Worlds. Picard 3 is as much about wrapping up the story of TNG as it is about continuing that era’s legacy with new faces and stories. It’s a resolution and a jumping off point if Paramount wishes to go in that direction. If the show is a hit, they’ll want to keep that momentum going.

So, it’s not about wishful thinking but a perspective based on my own personal experiences with other franchises, companies I’ve worked for and showrunners I’ve worked with. More likely than not, Paramount has already made a decision about what comes next and Matalas is not in a position to discuss it.

Sure, regarding Halo, like I said, I’ve noticed that fans of the game generally seem to really not like it with a passion but I’ve also noticed a trend in online reviews that viewers who aren’t familiar with the game seem to generally consider it a half decent sci-fi action adventure series.

Regarding Picard, my only difference of opinion with you is that I think that it not only has to be hit among core fans, but it also has to continue to build up on the buzz so as to capture new subscribers. And I just think it remains to be seen whether they can pull that off given a main cast that is in their 60s thru 80’s, and the show that is targeted to fans who are mainly older — but I certainly look forward to seeing how the 10 eps may set up a follow-on that include new cast participants.

I certainly respect your personal experience and admit that you may be right, But of course I wanna see the 10 eps myself. You could very well be right, but we’ll just have to see. I remain a bit skeptical, but I could be way off.

Thanks for having an intelligent back-and-forth on this!

I think you’ve nailed it on Halo. If you’re not familiar with the game it’s actually a lot of fun. If you are a fan of the game and separate yourself from its history, well, it’s a lot of fun.

And you are correct about Picard. It needs to lure and hold those subscribers. As I understand it, they lay the groundwork for a new, younger cast to carry on the legacy so in many ways the cast of TNG is essentially the cast of TOS for this generation and passing the torch. Hopefully Picard didn’t meet the same fate Kirk did in the writer’s room (Kirk dying saving the Enterprise B was a great way to go, Kirk crushed by a bridge because it didn’t occur to Picard to travel back to the Enterprise D and toss Soran in the brig before he made a mess of things was not-so-good).

A very pleasant chat! It would be amusing if we’re both WAY off base.

Yeah, great chat, Denny. And that would be funny if we’re both way off base…lol

I think the belt tightening in the streaming industry really interjects more uncertainty than there normally would be here.

From my part, I enjoyed Halo S1. Was it great? No. But was it good enough of a first season to keep me interested and hoping for more? Most definitely! And I thought the acting was very good.

My only thing about the new viewers angle is that while all the streamers want more and more subscribers, there’s also something to be said for retention. Paramount knows very well that there are a lot of Star Trek fans, past and present, out there. They have certainly made a calculus that spending a lot of money on new shows can bring in some newer (post-2009) or even brand new fans. I’m sure they have done, though only Prodigy and maybe SNW have been truly family-friendly.

But, there’s also the market of legacy fans who pay every month for the older shows and are excited for the “fan service” in Picard and Lower Decks and might be introducing their kids to the franchise with Prodigy.

Legacy fans are a consistent revenue stream that they’ve surely calculated is worth keeping happy with things like a TNG reunion on Picard, Lower Decks, and a 4K TMP: DE remaster. So long as they don’t overspend, they have a gravy train that’s more reliable and steady than say, Voyager and Enterprise on a scrappy 5th rated network. The number of people who would give Picard season 3 a looksee is anywhere from the 5 million or so who stuck around for Enterprise season 4, to the 20+ million who watched TNG in its heyday. Even if they dont get a slew of new subscribers form this, if the existing base is engaged in the show, that’s a win for retention and for their current strategy. New subs are prized highest, but at the end of the day, a paying subscriber is a paying subscriber to Paramount, and Wall Street wants to see actual profits from these ventures very soon. Keeping millions of Trek fans of all ages and preferences in the fold will help there.

I don’t disagree with any of this. That being said though, you could argue that they already have three Berman era legacy shows going right now — Picard, Prodigy and Lower Decks. Is that sustainable given there are only so many series slots for new shows to grow the market? P+ Will need to address that.

A question for you — if you had to decide between a Picard follow on series and additional years of lower decks being funded going forward, what would be your choice be?

Picard. Live action is just a more popular medium, and has bigger budgets. There’s more spin-off of spin-off potential for Picard. There’s an established formula by now of centering a show around a popular legacy character while making new scenarios and supporting characters to nurture, which opens the possibilities for new fans. Assuming the show concepts stay fresh, there’s no reason they can’t sustain this approach for many years.

Lower Decks is cheaper, so they could easily keep going a la The Simpsons or Bobs Burgers, and/or get their own cartoon spin-offs as the characters mature and get promoted. But animation just doesn’t have the same prestige and clout as live action.

Heck, people have been agitating for some kind of spinoff since the rumors that PIC was limited to three season started. XD

Exactly! They obviously know this very very well because it’s been discussed nauseam for 3 years already. And it’s going to be louder if they really like it!

I think there’s a strike looming, too, so there’s probably just a slowing down of any development which means a news and optimism freeze.

Great point! — we have the possible strike looming plus the belt tightening in the streaming industry today. That makes this situation a lot more dicey than say just a year ago, when I think if Picard season 3 had happened and been great, it would have been a foregone conclusion that there would have been a follow-on series.

Now we got to hope for the best – Picard season 3 has to BOTH nail it and expand the audience , plus external conditions beyond our control need to break the right way for a spinoff to happen.

Talking about potential spin offs personally i want the Section 31 show to happen and maybe a show set on a Prometheus-class ship or even another show set in the 32nd century.

The Section 31 show actually sounds the most interesting and exciting to me, because there’s so many possibilities on how they could work with the concept and also because we don’t really know what to expect from a show like that, it could go in many different directions.

And honestly, I personally loved Georgiou and want to see more of her.

Agreed, Teale. And with Michelle Y’s stardom now reaching epic proportions, I think such a series would have a lot of international cache and really expand the market.

I think when Discovery wraps that may be a wrap on that era. You would be looking at diminishing returns for a series that’s being outperformed by the series that followed it and likely season 3 of Picard. If Picard performs as well as expected, Paramount will be compelled to continue where that series left off, not where Discovery left off. There’s only so much Paramount can spend on original content each year

I could see Section 31 as a limited series and it could play out in an entirely unexpected way.

Matalas clearly has a plan long term. He said he considers the post-TNG era the ‘present day’ of Star Trek which I think many would agree with, so I really want to see expand this era. And if the show is a huge hit, then he’ll hopefully get his wish. We need more people like Matalas running Star Trek, less Michelle Paradise lol. I don’t think she has a clue.

I don’t think she’s terrible, but I’d rather hoped we’d gotten past Star Trek: Share Your Pain after DISCO S3 (which I still mostly enjoyed). Then S4 opened with fresh new trauma for everyone to talk through and I had to go yell into the couch cushions. Hopefully they’ve gotten the memo for S5.

I just really think she’s a bad show runner. I’m not saying there hasn’t been good episodes or story lines but she’s turned the show into a touchy feely mess with ridiculous plots (but this is Discovery lol), boring and filler episodes and weird twists like the crying Kelpian kid.

It says it all to me when I’m happy Discovery is getting less episodes next season. This show clearly can’t handle 13 without it dragging.

But I try to stay upbeat and maybe season 5 will prove me wrong and will be great. But I’m just watching it because it says Star Trek in the title at this point.

And there’s a lot of room to play in without retconning past events.

Excellent point, Denny !

Exactly! Another reason why everyone is so excited for more 25th century stories and they can just do what they want without affecting anything between the 22nd-24th centuries. It just gives them the room to be more creative.

However, Michelle Y’s stardom is currently reaching epic proportions international aidiences. A section 31 series with her now would get international attention and I think really helped to grow the market outside of North America.

Also, let’s not underestimate the ability of discovery to have another very successful spin-off given the tremendous success of strange new worlds. Who knows if a Picard spin-off would be as successful as a Discovery spin-off of strange new worlds? We just don’t know – it’s all conjecture that is obviously influenced by our personal opinions and wishes as fans.

Great point Christopher. I’m really excited about what they could do with a section 31 series. And maybe as I mentioned recently, it’s not just Georgiou, but they also bring Raffi into it.

Outside a complete reboot where they do Enterprise right, the Next Next Generation should be a TOS movie era series (what it always should have been) with Captain Saavik and the Titan, Captain Sulu on the Excelsior as a follow up to Strange New Worlds but technically a Kelvin universe show.
Give Discovery some points, they aren’t just rehashing the generic Enterprise-K using unlimited tech to time travel around the burn or whatever in a world where aliens are learning from the perfect humans. The only problem with Discovery is that when they fix the Feds, that’s where it leads again so let’s get back to some new Trek stories facing the dangers of the final frontier.

Cmd. Bremmom, I’d like to encourage you to try Treklit if you haven’t already.

I think you’d like the Titan books in the Relaunch universe. They explored and had a crew with many aliens under Riker’s leadership.

I also think you’d like the Prometheus books (from German authors).

But I truly think you’d like the Vanguard book series best. A frontier station of the TOS era, competing for colonization and exploration with the Klingons and Tholians, and a mysterious secret project. It has that ‘wagon train’ feeling you’re saying you’d prefer. The books can be darker, but they are laying out a dangerous situation in a hostile region.

There are a lot of people, including me, that would like to see Vanguard station 47, and the three starships that use it as a base, brought to streaming. What there doesn’t seem to be is an experienced Showrunner who sees it’s potential and wants to make it so.

agree with the TrekLit recommendation. It’s a shame they didn’t just pony up to the authors and adapt the good stories already there. So many great running arcs (Destiny, Cold Equations, Light Fantastic, heck, even the Typhon Pact, and yeah the Titan series as well), legacy and new characters, tentpoles – the works. Just sitting there unused so they could make Disco and Picard 1,2…sigh

It used to be that studios had people reading books to find stories to option.

Here Paramount Global OWNS all the tie-in lit IP, but don’t even seem to think it’s worthy to adapt, just snag the odd idea like Control from. I suspect that the EPs want those creator credits and residuals.

It’s exasperating.

But when I seen Netflix being successful with adaptations, especially Bridgerton, I think (hope) that perhaps some suits at Paramount might clue in.

I talked to someone at Paramount about this a little. I was discussing the eventual sale of Simon & Schuster and wondered if it wouldn’t be better to keep it and have first dibs and some ownership of the next big hit in literature from the get go. He said that because so many books fail, it didn’t make much sense for them to hold onto something as unwieldy as a publishing house. If something was catching on, it was just as effective to buy the rights or even to get in a bidding war. They just don’t have the apparatus to option everything under their purview.

They don’t need to option it. They own it already. And will continue to do so.

Your contact seems to have missed the point in their explanation.

Tie-in novel writers are writers for hire. They have no rights over their creation. That’s why David Mack was neither credited nor compensated when Discovery used the S31-Control concept from his novels in season two.

More, Simon & Schuster (internally) licence the right to create books from Paramount and previously CBS. That would be the same if they sold off S&S.

The real question is why it isn’t considered worth it to read the more successful novels for a concept. That, and reviewing spec scripts was once a full time job for a production assistant.

Serialization is a way to avoid accepting spec scripts, but episodic ones have to under the WGA contract, and use a minimum number per season. I’m not sure how SNW is getting around the requirement for episodic shows to accept spec scripts.

To be clear, we didn’t talk about Star Trek novels, I don’t care about that. It was more about how S&S is unwieldy to Paramount. Even though it’s profitable they don’t see any cost benefit to keeping it around as a source of IP, so it doesn’t surprise me they don’t comb through it for Star Trek stories. That’s something to bring up with the producers. At least Enterprise hired the Reeves-Stevens.

No more prequels. Pretty please with a cherry on top.

I’m open to a post-TUC, pre-TNG prequel actually since that’s about 7 decades of stories they can explore but other than that I would prefer to go forward every time.

Dave Cullen just watched all 10 eps. Says it was great and to stay for the credits. Wild ride.

He’s disliked all Trek since the 2009 movie right?

LOL oh yeah. He’s hated every new show as well including obviously the first two seasons of Picard. Now he’s banging the drum for Picard season 3 as well. When you have so many NuTrek haters praising this season, it says a lot. ;)

I’m glad they have the grace to admit when they like it and praise as vocally as they expressed their despise.

I would be very disappointed if their gatekeeping vision took over the entire franchise though.

I sincerely believe that Kurtzman has two things exactly right:

1. The franchise needs different shows and tones for different audiences. Yes, most fans will watch anything once. But not twice, and they need the shows they love to stay subscribed.

2. The new shows that are creatively successful have champions who can bring the talent and creatives together and deliver a cohesive product that has its place in the Fran and it’s audience. No matter how great a concept, without a champion, it’s not going to be great.

Fully agree!

And I just watched Dave Cullen’s video myself and it sounds like Picard season 3 is on a very different level we haven’t seen in decades. He praises the ten episodes in a way that says it’s basically Berman or classic era Trek in all the best ways possible. And for people who hasn’t liked even the newer stuff most fans have praised like LDS, SNW or PRO, this sounds like the season that will get the rest of those fans onboard as well. Clearly it’s just his opinion, but since he’s been one of those guys who has hated everything for the last 14 years until this one season, he obviously thinks many who feels the way he has will make a turn.

He says quite a bit in it and I would encourage you or anyone to watch it even if you disagree with his general view of NuTrek, but there’s so many positives he says about this season that excites me. He talks specifically how amazing the last three episodes are and that the last episode is gargantuan (his words). RMB has already been saying for months episodes 9 and 10 can actually be its own movie. But Cullen also mentions there is even a mid-credits scene in the last episode that really pushes things forward in a great way.

Again he gives no spoilers but the way these guys talk about these 10 episodes, some of the biggest NuTrek haters around, really makes it clear this is Star Trek many people whose still on the fence about all the Trek from 2009 to present have been wanting for decades now.

And as someone who has supported everything since 2009 and has no issues with the new shows (generally), but can also still admit the Berman era will probably always be my favorite era of Star Trek, this excites me extremely.

Isn’t he the dude who shitcanned SNW and has been an Enterprise apologist for years?

Good luck. We’re all counting on you.

I’m a simple Trekker, I just want a continuation of the 25th century with the next Enterprise. I’m hoping they realize that a simple back to basics premise is better than trying to re-invent the wheel. I keep thinking about how TNG brought in a massive influx of new fandom, a generation that really couldn’t get into TOS because it was so visually and culturally outdated. Maybe a new 25th century show could do the same for a new generation, a fresh yet rich universe to play in for a Next Generation.

This is strictly my opinion, but I think the spin off show could land on a new Enterprise. I think most people were surprised to learn the Enterprise F is basically winding down its mission instead of being brand new. I think that was done intentionally to put whatever the next cast will be on a brand new ship by the end of the season.

Obviously they could’ve done that with the F but my guess is they wanted to honor the ship from STO since it’s been around so long but create something completely new for a 25th century show.

But if you asked most fans, I’m guessing a large amount wants that as well and a new Enterprise in the 25th century. That would certainly be an amazing transition from Picard.

It’s certainly possible that Enterprise will play a roll in the finale in some way, if only to grease the wheels for a spin-off that Terry would love to do. I also don’t think we’ll see two Enterprise shows running at the same time, although Paramount evidently has no issue with two TOS Enterprise casts coexisting (if they had move ahead with that movie anyway). But perhaps Lower Decks and Prodigy are all we get in this era moving forward. It all comes down to Picard S3 delivering the goods and advocating for more.

I really don’t need to see the early 25th century Enterprise as the hero ship.

We already have the 1701 in SNW, and I don’t think we need two Enterprise shows at once.

More, like many Litverse readers, I just want the Titan to have her own chance to become beloved.

For the record I don’t either. I didn’t even need to see the original Enterprise back on SNW (but happy we got it course), but let’s not kid ourselves either. If you ran a poll between wanting to be on a ship named Enterprise and a ship not named Enterprise, we both know how that poll will go. There are still some fans (very small of course) who thinks ‘real’ Star Trek are shows that take place on an Enterprise.

Now all that said, I was a little excited thinking we would have three different Enterprises this year on SNW, Picard and the fourth Kelvin movie….well two out of three is still cool. ;D

I could be completely wrong obviously. I was the same guy who said an Enterprise would show up in the first two seasons. But its something in Matalas answer in this interview when he was asked if the spin off would be on the Titan and his cryptic response of just watch the show. Seem like he would’ve just said, ‘Sure, of course.’ Right?

And RMB and all the other guys who seen it seem overly giddy on how the season ends suggests, to me anyway, there will be a big transition of some kind.

There is a new video from the Popcast on YouTube. If you never heard of them, they do a lot of Trek theory videos and some of the people who got to see all ten episodes of Picard S3 a few months and been praising it ever since.

I bring it up because they had a huge panel with various other Star Trek and sci fi YouTubers including RMB just yesterday who talked a little about what the spin off could be and they all said the last episode of season 3 sets it up perfectly. And that it leads to whats next in an exciting way. That fans will be extremely begging to see what comes next when the show ends.

It sounds like Matalas has set up the future fans probably wanted since Voyager ended and a mix of new and old.

Star Trek The Next Next Generation is all I’ve really wanted from the beginning, a continuation rather than a bunch of TOS prequels and reboots. Annoyingly even Picard refused to do that.

For me, I actually wanted them to jump ahead after Nemesis, about 50 years in the early-ish 25th century and would be just enough time to do something new but can still use old story lines and find ways for cameos if they wanted to, but mostly a fresh start.

But that said, this would’ve been my second option. Basically start a few years after Nemesis like where LDS is now and be a direct continuation. Reading multiple boards for years now, including here, it’s obvious that’s what most fans wanted for a long time. And it sounds like season 3 is really really finally going to give it to them.

Another thing that was said from that YouTube panel is that TNG, DS9 and VOY are highly represented but Matalas even included a little bit of TOS and ENT as well. So it’s very classic Trek influenced but obviously focused the most with 24th century shows and characters; so I think you and others will really get your wish on that.

Man, I really don’t like several of Matalas’ creative decisions. I wish Star Trek well, always, but I am deeply concerned that the potential success of his all-in approach to fan service and the flagrant pastiche of the Titan will set Trek back decades. Discovery S1-2was the most original, daring, and satisfying Trek since TWOK, and it was utterly kneecapped by bigots, sexists, and professional haters. The haters already turned DSC into a ruderless mishmash, and my fear is that Matalas has made himself their avatar–an avatar of unoriginality.

Much of the grumbling on TrekMovie about Discovery reflected a poorly executed premise, uneven writing, a lack of focus and a less than compelling lead (no fault of her own) which resulted in the rudderless mishmash you speak of. A Black captain, a woman in command of a starship and strong female leads was nothing new to the franchise.

As for fan service, it only works to the detriment of a story if it’s necessary to carry the story, making it unable to stand on its own. If early reviews are to be believed, longtime fans will love the fan service but casual viewers won’t need to pick up on it to follow along and enjoy the story.

Until we see what Matalas has done in season 3 of Picard, which reboots the show’s premise by returning to TNG’s roots, it’s premature to refer to him as an avatar of unoriginality.

Well said Denny C.

There were so many things amiss in the execution of Discovery right out of the gate. But there are things that I still love about the first season.

I have a high opinion of what Matalas achieved with 12 monkeys so I believe that he’s more than capable of adapting and surpassing existing material while respecting it.

My expectation is that he’ll have done the same with Picard.

I understand Jeffries Tuber’s concerns though that the folks who are gatekeeping new style, tone, production design, music etc. don’t make it impossible for the more novel interpretations of the franchise to get made and find their audiences.

Fortunately, Matalas is acknowledging that those shows have their contributions to make, and that there has been naysayers for any other Star Trek since TOS was cancelled.

Thank you! It’s really eye rolling to say the reason people still don’t like Discovery four seasons later is because people don’t like a black woman as the lead. Um, last time I checked, Mariner is the star of Lower Decks and no one seems to have a problem with her being a black woman. The captain, her mother, also a black woman. And yet that show seems to be much more beloved. Gee, I wonder why? Could it just be because it’s A. A better written show B. Understands Star Trek inside and out and C. Follows canon to an insane level?

No, for most people who don’t like Discovery, they simply think it’s a bad show. Yes, there were certainly people who did criticize Martin for being a black lead, but that was four years ago. It’s like suggesting people who had issues with Voyager was only because they still didn’t like a woman captain and not for it’s questionable writing issues seasons later. And today Janeway is adored today even if you’e still not big on Voyager itself.

And 99% of people here who has issues with Discovery, including me, a black man, just think the show sucks. Those other idiots were ran out of here long long ago. Having a woman or POC is not only welcomed, it’s encouraged. But I’m not going to make excuses for a bad show just because there is one either.

I loved the premise, thought the writing was generally solid for the first three seasons, and the lead, SMG, hit it out of the park, and continues to do so — and she has a huge following. My sense Is that for every old guard Trek fan posting on a Trek website about Discovery, there’s multiple new fans out there who love the series. Heck, when I went to the New Jersey Creation con year and a half ago, they had a huge influx of one day registrations just to see her — and her audience was about three times the amount of Shatner‘s — and when I looked around the room it was almost all young people and women.

I will agree that season four of discovery was weak. But in terms of quality, it still absolutely blows away Picard season two. Your comparisons kind of amuses me a bit my friend because at this point in time today we’ve had no season of Picard which has even approached the quality of any season of discovery. You are cherry picking one out of three seasons of Picard That we haven’t even seen yet and suggesting that now Picard is better than discovery and so discovery should be sunseted… I don’t think Mr. Spock would buy into your logic… makes no sense? In my opinion, discovery seasons one and three were good solid Star Trek seasons, and discovery season two was one of the best Star Trek season since deep space nine — while Picard to date has had one divisive of season and one truly awful season.

IDIC…YMMV…

I wish my longstanding hatred for bald Frenchmen who act British had not turned season 2 of Picard into a rudderless mishmash as well. And for that I apologize.

Could you elaborate on what the sexists and bigots did to kneecap Discovery, creatively?

Fan service that just goes in a congratulatory circle quickly gets old, but I don’t think Picard is doing that. There are things from the TNG era Matalas happily makes sure come back, from familiar props to old music themes, but to be a pastiche it would have to feel like a copy of something else, and it doesn’t to me. It can’t – even though the TNG cast are returning, they’re all 20 years older and act that way. There’s interpersonal conflict, there’s regret, humor that reflects their current dynamics, and adjustments to a universe that has passed them by in some ways. That’s more akin to the best character touches of TWOK than a dip back into the trappings of TNG.

It’s ground the show never covered in the same way and the TNG movies rarely had any time for either, all wrapped up in the trappings of a big budget serialized drama with modern pacing and new characters who may stick and become fan favorites. There’s zero reason the franchise can’t continue to find creative gold in mixing legacy and new characters as Matalas is trying to do here. I admit I am inclined to protect the warm feeling I get from seeing these characters back and having something entertaining to do, but don’t think that sets things back at all.

Oh yes, I heard about that incident when the roving mob of haters extorted Disco showrunner Michelle Paradise and ordered her how to write the show. Quite distressing, I hope they catch the bigot gangsters. Thank you for your insightful post. And I really don’t like the creative decisions of a show I haven’t seen either.

This guy just killed the Enterprise-F because he prefers retro design, how depressing. Why do this to the legacy like that??

Although I generally prefer the more (slip)streamlined late 24th century ships, I can see that the F, and other ships created for the extended universe shouldn’t be expected to be automatically imported into mainline television canon as hero ships.

The Titan Luna-class created for the novels has been given its hero moments in Lower Decks.

The F has largely been an STO design. I’m not in love with it, understand why it has its fans. I appreciate the attempt to merge some of the swooping style of the D with the more streamlined later ships, but something seems off balanced for a capital ship. I can imagine that it could be a difficult model to work with as a hero ship vs the limited renderings of a game.

So, I appreciate that Matalas has tried to compromise by leaving these two ships with their moments in television canon while giving us new ones.

As long as Matalas’ design preferences don’t take over the entire franchise, I’m ok with it.

As context, my favourite design is the STO/Eaglemoss Aventine, so I’m definitely not a fan of the old ones, or the awkward John Eaves ones in other new Star Trek series.

This man doesn’t shut up with the teases on Twitter, and yet says almost nothing when being interviewed.