A new Trek series

[Nate the Great]

And I'm back. Sorry, computer problems have prevented me from making detailed posts for awhile (my previous post was via iPad, you'll note the lack of links or anything fancy). Time for another news roundup.

An interview with several Trek actors regarding Discovery and Orville.

* Robert Duncan McNeill has already directed an episode of Orville and remarks that the crew over there is careful NOT to be too similar to Star Trek.
* Garrett Wang would rather guest star on Orville.

There will be 24 Klingon houses in Discovery, each with its own agenda, and the new makeup is only for members of one house.

Um, okay? I'd rather have these new Klingons be more like the Remans, a distinct offshoot in the same culture.

The Nicholas Meyer not-Discovery Star Trek project is a Khan-on-Ceti-Alpha-V miniseries.

I'll wait for more details, especially where it conflicts with the To Reign in Hell book that covered this material.

[Nate the Great]

Someone on Twitter altered a screenshot from TAS to include Sybok and Birnbaum.

"With each new announcement surrounding Star Trek: Discovery, it’s become increasingly clear how intertwined it’s going to be with the original Star Trek."

Insert sarcastic barking laugh here. Does this mean we can expect a reference to Captain Pike? Yeah, I doubt it.

[Nate the Great]

Birnbaum isn't Spock's half sister, she's just his adopted sister.

Cue the hecklers in the crowd shouting "why wasn't she namedropped in 'Amok Time' or 'Journey to Babel' or 'The Search for Spock' or 'The Voyage Home' or 'Unification' or..."

She's also the first human to attend the Vulcan Science Academy. Putting aside the novels saying otherwise (and there are some good examples of humans choosing to live among Vulcans among them), I find the notion ridiculous. Either the Vulcan Science Academy teaches things concerning the unique mental powers and spiritualism of Vulcans, in which case they would never let humans in since they couldn't participate fully, or else it's just a college on another planet, in which case humans would be asking to attend way before now.

Why Sarek adopted her.

So the Klingons killed her parents when they were Sarek's guests on Vulcan. The words "bad fanfic plot" keep appearing in my head, I wonder why...

[Nate the Great]

Each season will have its own plot (i.e. the Klingon War won't continue in Season 2).

Huh? I thought the Klingon clans would be fighting each other and the Discovery was going to be a team ship to prevent a war.

Plus there's the whole thing where "Errand of Mercy" should've had a line like "this war could be even worse than the one ten years ago" if such a conflict existed.

Prime Universe, my foot.

Kurtzman teases spinoffs.

Um, dude? You were hired to make DISCOVERY a good show, and it hasn't even premiered yet. Focus on DISCOVERY, remember that show? Spinoffs aren't your job, unless you want to announce that someone else is taking over your job on DISCOVERY!

[Nate the Great]

Discovery has been rated TV-MA.

I'm saving my lecture for a few days to see if the production responds by reediting the pilot for re-submission to the MPAA.

[Nate the Great]

Showrunner Aaron Harberts:

“[W]hat’s important to the creative team is the legacy of the show which is passed down from mother to daughter, from father to son, from brother to brother. We want to make sure we’re not creating a show that fans can’t share with their families. You have to honor what the franchise is. I would say we’re not going much beyond hard PG-13.”

Star Trek shouldn't even approach a "hard" PG-13. A "hard" PG-13 shouldn't have been the goal at any point. In situations like this where different groups have different standards you don't aim for "what we get away with", you draw another line to give yourself a buffer zone!

Does anyone else wonder how many All Access subscriptions they just lost with this fiasco?

[Zeke]

You guys know I try to avoid politics at the forums... but man, with them both going on concurrently, it is impossible to look at the ST:D production process and not wonder if it's being run by the Trump administration. Both of them are making every unforced error they possibly can.

I'm still gonna hope this is good, of course. It always could be, despite everything. But I'm preparing for the worst. Every franchise that goes on long enough will eventually lose its unity, even for the most dedicated fan. There's a personal breaking point where the "real" franchise ends and what comes afterwards is more like fanfic with a license. I'm not sure if I hit that point with the reboot movies, but this show may make it official.