Star Trek: Discovery

After watching the first two eps I'd say this will be a success. There are a couple of things that stand out however;

Even though it takes place 10 years before the first version, Kirk/Spock, etc. the technology looks more advanced. This couldn't be avoided since current techniques, CGI, green screen, video capture, holographic representation , etc. were all unknown during production of the original series and even the later TV series and of course the producers wouldn't want to be hampered with plywood and cardboard sets.

Why the uniforms changed in the intervening 10 years is harder to explain but the Discovery versions are more stylish and 'futuristic'. It's been pointed out that the representation of the Klingons have changed over the years so the 'new' ones can't be faulted and I suspect are CGI in many scenes, even the closeups.

The phasors are more 'modernistic' than the originals also and so far don't seem to have a 'stun' setting. At least they used only lethal settings in ep 2.

Also, with the many, extended scenes of the Klingons speaking Klingon with English subtitles this will give students of their language (there are some) a lot to work with in developing pronunciations, grammer, etc. Sheldon Cooper will be proud.

Two of the exec. prods. are Berg and Harbets. They have been a team for years and were writers on Roswell. I've started to watch the "After Discovery" show, just a few minutes in, but the host is annoying. Chris Hardwick does a much better job on the Talking Dead shows. Aaron Harbets is on too, he looks younger than I expected. He and Berg (wife or partner, not sure) must have been really young when they started on Roswell.

Probably more to say later after I've watched "...After...".

I'm enjoying the series despite a few things that don't seem to fit like the Klingons dressed like glam rockers and their faces are drastic departure from TOS or TNG. Also there seems to be a general disregard for the safety of the ship and crew. However, they have clearly spent some big money on the series and seem committed to it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2017/10/25/star-trek-discoverys-early-success-is-helping-cbs-battle-the-cord-cutting-trend/?utm_term=.c05926698bd8

I saw a piece on YouTube explaining the 'new' appearance of the Klingons. Can't cite it now, but a search should turn it up. When Sonequa Martin Green was on the S8 premier party for TWD she said she could hardly believe her good fortune at being cast in such as iconic series.

I think there's only 1-2 more episodes before the end of S1. Pretty good, and a worthy addition to the Star Trek 'world'. There is one puzzling thing, that might be resolved before the end of S1....the "Spore Drive". It seems very far advanced over the 'warp drive' and hyperspace concepts used in all later series but it is never mentioned or used in later series. So what happened to it ? They are going to have to explain it eventually...

I can only guess that the 'genius' crew member that invented it had something to do with its demise, or maybe the 'DNA' link that was necessary with the monster in the cage and later with the crew member proved too cumbersome and/or dangerous to continue with it.

But being able to "materialize anywhere in the Universe" nearly instantaneously was one heck of an advancement!

The second half of the season starts today ! After it's over I will cancel CBS All Access for awhile since there isn't anything else on it that I need to see.

I may do the same. I don't really need it since I could watch the series via Kodi without commercials. I would think CBS is thinking about the upcoming canceled subscriptions and would have other series in the pipeline ready to launch.

Ep 10 was pretty good. Don't know about anything in the pipeline to cause me to keep subscribing.

The 2nd half of the season isn't as good imo. Too many outrageous plot lines and things which seem out of character. The Captain Lorca story line got way out of control and as well as bringing back Georgiou as an Emperor from an alt universe. An alt universe story line is something writers normally bring in for an episode or two because they are running low on ideas. But filling half of the first season with an alt universe story line makes me wonder if they have any ideas for season 2.

The season finale is the next one. Now that they are back in 'this' universe maybe they will get things under control. Given the many plot lines over the years from the other ST series, there doesn't seem to be too many original plots left, but time travel is always a good one.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/star-trek-discovery-casts-spock-after-long-search/ar-BBLVJ2k?ocid=U507DHP

So if the Enterprise has shown up in the Discovery 'universe' what about the rest of the crew ?

Trying to watch the trailer for S2 I get this:

https://www.cbs.com/shows/star-trek-discovery/video/nlLKWze5XPWHkLJsyuBL23L6F899C0Nm/star-trek-discovery-season-2-official-trailer/?ftag=AAM-00-10aff4a&%243p=e_et&%24original_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbs.com%2Fshows%2Fstar-trek-discovery%2Fvideo%2FnlLKWze5XPWHkLJsyuBL23L6F899C0Nm%2Fstar-trek-discovery-season-2-official-trailer%2F%3Fftag%3DAAM-00-10aff4a&_branch_match_id=536941475425185221

All in all this series hasn't been popular with hard core Trekkies and CBS' handling of it hasn't helped and there have been lawsuits, etc.