Having reached my exasperation on the total lack of information from Bell Media on a Canadian release, I asked @GoodAaron if he or the Hagemans could share any information. Here is his reply on Mastodon....
Checking the CTV Sci-fi schedule on Thursday, July 5th at 9 pm - the usual slot for new Star Trek - Snowpiercer is shown. The rest of the evening has the usual Star Trek Voyager reruns.
I have been looking for a ‘special presentation’ on CTV linear as they have a track record of inserting those when they’re out of alignment with streaming releases.
If the actors’ contracts are for 7 calendar years but production is stretched out as is has been due to the pandemic and the strike, it’s hard to see how more than 5 seasons are possible without severe escalation in labour costs for US talent.
One gets the feeling that Paramount senior management have been paying more attention to review-bombed scores on Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb etc. and YouTubers than to actual viewing minutes and audience size.
While Nielsen stats are only for the United States, it’s clear that Paramount has been doing vastly better by Discovery than any of the naysayers have claimed.
Contract length is a fair point. But so is the over reliance on US SGA talent in a show that’s trying to reach a global audience and represent a future that’s diverse.
Discovery had only five seasons but in calendar years, in which contracts are written, it was seven years from production of the pilot. So, regardless of the impact of the strikes, further seasons would have required higher salaries for Martin-Green, Rapp, Cruz and Wiseman.
One has to wonder if that was a consideration in the decision on Lower Decks as well.
Also, while federal and provincial governments give significant tax credits for the ACTRA-contract labour costs of Canadian and Ontario resident actors (50%), up until Rennie joined this season the Discovery main cast were all full SGA scale, although the seasonal ‘big bass’ have all been Canadian or resident since season 2. That can make a huge difference to the overall cost.
All to say, if talent salaries were the key driver of decisions, CBS Studios should put more casting in the hands of their Canadian casting director.
One has to then of Canadian/resident main cast will also put a cap on the potential number of seasons for SNW.
It will be interesting to see whether CBS Studios will go for the tax credit when they cast the cadet roles for Starfleet Academy.
I have absolutely been waiting for this to be released to Steam.
Finding games that I can share with our teens on Steam is challenging but important for keeping connected. So, we’re often looking for games that appeal to more than one of us. When we buy it’s 2, 3 or 4 keys. Having one for free to start would be great.
Resurgence really looks to offer the kind of role playing that makes sharing the journey in parallel fun.
LoglineWhen Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape....
Also it has participated in Doors Open Ontario which is an annual event for a few days in May, when many publicly funded or non-profit buildings that usually have restricted admittance, are open for viewing.
It's been a while since I've watched the entire show. Unfortunstely, I'm already involved in some other binge watching of a show, so, I'd like to hear about your favourite episodes of TAS so I can toss them in between.
The whole run is less than 8 hours total, and there’s several episodes in there that really bridge between TOS and the movies and TNG, even if they’ve been cut down for the format.
But here are a few other suggestions…
‘The Slaver Weapon’ was written by Larry Niven himself, adapting his story ‘The Soft Weapon’, and making Kzinti a Star Trek canon species.
‘The Practical Joker’ gives us the holographic simulator in the Rec Room, and the first ‘space anomaly leads to computer misfunctions and Holodeck insanity’
‘Mudd’s Passion’ gives us Scotty and the Caitain second Communications Officer Lt M’Ress in an unintended romantic twist.
Uhura gets command in ‘The Lorelei Signal.’
‘More Tribbles, More Troubles’ is an essential part of Tribble lore.
‘The Time Trap’ and ‘The Jihad’ are great for showing off a wider range of sentient species.
Given the cost of the archival footage upgrades for the DS9 documentary ‘What we left behind’, it’s really surprising that they didn’t work from the LDs as one of their sources.
Good to know that the Voyager LDs exist even if compiling a complete set may be the challenge.
I’m very interested to see how they build out this species.
Given it’s so far in the franchise future, there was always the possibility he was another mixed species character, but having a connection with legacy species that’s been largely undeveloped, is a better choice.
Actually, TrekMovie makes the case that the references in the reply to the need to ‘time things out’ for the franchise was the answer. I would parse that as their having other Star Trek franchise products ahead in the queue.
The person asking really let Cheeks off the hook though with their final question being, “Is Trek still a priority for the company?”.
No matter how specific the preceding preamble was to Legacy, the question they got to was super general and let Cheeks take it wherever he wanted.
Not sure I agree that season 4 was the best. I’m in the camp that felt the pacing was off. But then I really liked seasons 1 & 3, and ran hot and cold on season 2, which pretty much makes me an outlier among Discovery fans.
As much as I like to see elements from the Relaunch novels brought to screen, in this case I pretty much knew where the chase was leading, based on the final Voyager Full Circle novel, and that took away some the wow factor of the contact with the 10C.
If I have a quibble it’s that it reminded me that Asian women haven’t had as strong representation in the franchise as they might. But it also made me glad that Christina Chong is in a main role in SNW.
Just a note that, while the listing on the Simon & Schuster website is for the US, the major ebook sellers in other countries usually offer the same or similar deals on TrekLit, updated monthly.
The best way to find out which deals are available in your country is to search ‘Star Trek’ and books/ebooks, then filter and sort by price.
In most countries, sorting lowest to highest will put all the ebook deals at the top. In some, like the UK, just set the filter to a low maxim price e.g., less than £2.99.
The show had already established how Tendi has green blood earlier in the series after an injury and it would have been an easy to infer detail compared to humans in the show....
Emily Coutts (Detmer) and Oyin Oladego (Owo) are never listed with the main cast characters. They and others like Patrick Kwok-Choon (Gen Rhys) are credited in the ‘also starring’ list in the post credits not in the main titles.
No reason not to believe Emily won’t be back. Oyin was in production as the lead in an independent feature last year so there may have been a scheduling issue as there was for Ronnie Rowe Jr (Bryce) when he was in production for his lead role in BET+ Series ‘The Porter’ during production of Discovery season 4.
Most of these Canadian actors filling in the bridge crew work on other Canadian projects which seem to be more crucial for advancing their careers even if working on Discovery was a regular income.
Uhm, I don’t need the Romulan Supernova to be tied up with a bow.
But I also appreciate that writers like to be able to be the ones to bring closure to their own stories. Alex Kurtzman was the cowriter of Star Trek (2009). I can see how he would like to be the one to lay down the incontrovertible canon that ties the loose ends that the Kelvin movies and Picard have left us with. And he’s co Showrunner of Discovery so it was his vehicle to do it with.
So, I would be cool if this resolves some things and helps us to understand better the butterfly effect that destroyed a civilization, split the resilient Prime time and perhaps even give us some deeper hints on what caused the Mirror Universe to split off.
However, the number of posts I see elsewhere wondering if it will take place in the already crowded late 24th or early 25th century is surprising. So, there’s value add to Doug Adams affirming that.
The Directors Guild of Canada (Ontario) ‘Hot List’ compilation of Ontario-based production information has been updated with a new CBS Studios show ‘Ivory Tower’ to begin Accounting & Art Department preproduction in March.
I’m expecting some thriller aspects, not just the comedy that having Tawney Newsome joining the writers room might suggest.
This show was in development hell for quite a while, but it seems like they finally got a viable concept after the backdoor pilot episode in Discovery season three fell flat, and a new set of creators took over.
Gaia Violo (Co-EP), who is credited with writing the pilot that finally got greenlit, was the cocreator and a senior writer on Absentia. Also, Co-Showrunner Noga Landau was a senior writer on The Magicians when Henry Alonso Myers was showrunner. Landau transitioned Nancy Drew to a much more suspenseful (and successful) version when she took over running the show in season two.
My wife recently started to show an interest in watching Star Trek. Previously she had seen The Wrath of Khan when she was single digits in age and not much else....
I wouldn’t assume that it works best in that direction even though that’s great for long time fans like us.
There is an entire new cohort of younger fans for whom Lower Decks was their entry point. It’s successful because you don’t need to get all the Easter eggs and references to still find it an enjoyable show.
In fact, I see a lot of those Lower Decks-first fans talking about how the show gave them enough reference points to really enjoy the classic shows and be open to their slower pacing.
Don’t impose your preferences for doing things in sequence or being a completionist on new viewers please. This seems really bad advice and likely to turn off more potential fans than pull them in.
OP’s question is about how to figure out how to engage someone in the franchise who seems to have her own specific preferences, and things that put her off.
I’m a viewer who first saw TOS as a small child when it was in first run, and everything in first run after that. It for others, there’s a whole range of shows for different tastes, best to figure out which one suits someone’s tastes and pull them into the franchise with that.
When we wanted to introduce our kids to the franchise, we started with TAS, then curated episodes from the other series. Like many tween, Voyager turned out to be ‘their show’ and it makes sense that Prodigy is strongly tied to Voyager. Our kids have moved onto other Trek shows and other franchises as they’ve moved through their teens. TOS, DS9 & Enterprise remain shows that they’ll watch occasionally. But one can never say that they’ve not liked Trek.
Most long time fans who’ve seen the entire first season describe it as the most ‘Trek’ of the new eras of shows.
It starts out intentionally in a location outside the Federation that is tonally more like SW, and with characters that either don’t know or are hostile to the Federation. It meets new viewers where they are and then brings them into the fold.
By the middle of the first season it’s celebrating everything that’s great about the franchise.
Not in real life, but there’s no way that all the Temporal Incursions ™ in Voyager wouldn’t have had dates slipping a bit back and forth.
I’m so very glad that SNW took an episode to clarify what’s been lurking in the background as ‘inconsistencies’ ever since Roddenberry took the decision to move WW3 back a half century in TNG ‘Encounter at Farpoint.’ Makes better physics sense too.
Never have been convinced that the toy branding and marketing has been targeted appropriately for Star Trek.
Playmates never quite seemed to hit the mark. They were trying to create a mass market toy but marketing for collectors.
The other side of the Paramount house has done brilliantly with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles branding, tie-ins and toys since they took them away from Nickelodeon.
While the television franchise is in good hands with Secret Hideout, bringing in some fresh perspective from the TMNT team seems very needed.
Of course the real-world reason is that it’s cheaper to shake the camera and set off a firecracker than to build a scale model just to paint a burn scar on the side....
Confirmed! - CTV has the Prodigy season 2 licence ( startrek.website )
Having reached my exasperation on the total lack of information from Bell Media on a Canadian release, I asked @GoodAaron if he or the Hagemans could share any information. Here is his reply on Mastodon....
See New Images from Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2! ( blog.trekcore.com )
The Official Trailer and Key Art for Season 2 of Animated Series Star Trek: Prodigy Is Here ( www.startrek.com )
This creature might try to drink my bones, but I will always cherish them.
Warp Five: Costume Designer Anthony Tran Weaves Real Life and Past Influences into Discovery's Tapestry ( www.startrek.com )
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Wrapping Up Season 3 Production, Work on Season 4 Begins Spring 2025 ( blog.trekcore.com )
Star Trek: Discovery Beats Picard & Rises Higher In Nielsen Streaming Top 10 ( screenrant.com )
tl;dr ST Discovery is doing well in the ratings, despite cancellation being announced already....
Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 509 With New Images And Clip From “Lagrange Point” ( trekmovie.com )
Giveaway! Win your Steam Copy of the 'Captain’s Edition' of Star Trek: Resurgence! ( startrek.website )
Edit: We have 10 winners!!...
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Discovery | 5x08 "Labyrinths"
LoglineWhen Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape....
TAS recommendations
It's been a while since I've watched the entire show. Unfortunstely, I'm already involved in some other binge watching of a show, so, I'd like to hear about your favourite episodes of TAS so I can toss them in between.
“You don’t grab power, you accumulate it quietly, without anyone noticing.” – Grand Nagus Zek ( sh.itjust.works )
Screenshot from DS9 - 111 - The Nagus (Laserdisc)
New SFX Magazine Features Star Trek: Discovery Spotlight Interviews, Plus: Captain Rayner’s Species Revealed! ( blog.trekcore.com )
Showrunner Michelle Paradise on Star Trek: Discovery’s Cancellation, and Filming More Scenes for Season 5 ( blog.trekcore.com )
Discovery Season 5 Early Review Round-Up
The SXSW premiere was today, and it looks like the review embargo has been lifted, so reviews can be shared here.
Happy International Women’s Day from the Women of Star Trek ( www.startrek.com )
March 2024 Star Trek eBook Deals ( www.simonandschuster.com )
Cold take: Lower Decks should have colored an Orion's blushing as green instead of red/pink. ( startrek.website )
The show had already established how Tendi has green blood earlier in the series after an injury and it would have been an easy to infer detail compared to humans in the show....
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 5 To Debut With 2 Episodes On April 4 ( trekmovie.com )
[Speculation] Will Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 explain the Romulan Supernova? – Trek Central ( trekcentral.net )
ST: DS9 - Behind The Scenes (1993/LaserDisc) ( archive.org )
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/36f50411-c85b-4b9a-9bb0-48742e338bb9.jpeg...
Interview: Doug Jones Talks “Dignified” Change For Saru In “Sentimental” Final Season Of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ ( trekmovie.com )
Star Trek on LaserDisc, if you've got the right equipment, it looks amazing! (samples in the description) ( youtu.be )
Star Trek on Laserdisc...
'Ivory Tower', likely aka 'Starfleet Academy' preproduction rumoured to start in March ( startrek.website )
The Directors Guild of Canada (Ontario) ‘Hot List’ compilation of Ontario-based production information has been updated with a new CBS Studios show ‘Ivory Tower’ to begin Accounting & Art Department preproduction in March.
When should I start showing someone new to Trek new shows?
My wife recently started to show an interest in watching Star Trek. Previously she had seen The Wrath of Khan when she was single digits in age and not much else....
Netflix Just Saved The Most Underrated Star Trek Show — Creators Tease What's Next ( www.inverse.com )
Where to Watch Prodigy Season 1 on December 25
With the imminent return of Prodigy, it’s time to figure out where it will be found....
Voyagers writers and Memory Alpha don't know when Voyagers final 3 episodes are set. ( lemmy.world )
Doing another Voyager rewatch and something caught my eye that I hadn’t noticed before....
Playmates Toys Ends Star Trek Action Figure Development ( blog.trekcore.com )
first ship in my advent calender ( lemmy.world )
Possible headcanon reason why consoles always explode on the bridge
Of course the real-world reason is that it’s cheaper to shake the camera and set off a firecracker than to build a scale model just to paint a burn scar on the side....