[Danny]

Maybe #denobulan was a bad call (although, as McCoy, Kirk, and Spock all get name checks in future series, one would imagine the CMO aboard Starfleet's flagship during the Xindi war and at the signing of the charter would get a little mention?).

Maybe a better retconned species would've been #Xindi - a conflict that starts with 7 million dead, and an 1700 mile trench cut into the Earth doesn't even get a mention 100 years later? More is said about the Earth/Romulan war (that took place 5 years after the Xindi incident...).

I guess my point is, if a new series is going to take place between established series (Enterprise and TOS), why not try and make what takes place fit in with what's known/mentioned? Why introduce a species that's (probably) never heard from again? And if you can't, why not have a series take place in the future, or a different quadrant?

[KillerB]

What about the tripod dude from TAS? He's canon and we never get to see a live action member of his species.

Racist.

[Tim]

What about the tripod dude from TAS? He's canon and we never get to see a live action member of his species.

Did we see the cat people again? I think maybe in the background of movies or bar scenes.

There are tonnes of species in the Star Trek universe that come and go, show up in different places, etc. I've never considered it a canon problem enough to break suspension-of-disbelief.

Are we sure those are Klingons? They look different enough to me to be a whole new species.

I'm pretty certain those are a new species despite what people are saying. In addition to not looking like Klingons, they all look identical among themselves: from what I've heard of the Klingon characters in Discovery we're going to see many different ones, from different houses, with different motivations. I'm expecting the Klingons in this show to have more unique contrasted costumes and makeup.

But they could be a related subjugated species in a Klingon army. The grunts from the bad guy house.

I guess my point is, if a new series is going to take place between established series (Enterprise and TOS), why not try and make what takes place fit in with what's known/mentioned? Why introduce a species that's (probably) never heard from again? And if you can't, why not have a series take place in the future, or a different quadrant?

Remember trek species are like characters --- they are homogenized reflections of a particular human trait meant to say something specific in the story. Even with super developed species, every Klingon or Vulcan we see is either a typical one or defined by that contrast. And the viewer's familiarity with the species changes how it's perceived. The point of aliens is often to be mysteriously other with unknown motivations. That doesn't work if we already know them well or the species' mystery has already been solved.

The show writers need to be free to choose new or old species based on what the want to do with the characters in each story.

[bhosp]

I genuinely don't understand why this show is being made, and not just a sequel to TNG that opens with Frakes saying "These are the voyages of the starship Titan"...

[KillerB]

I genuinely don't understand why this show is being made, and not just a sequel to TNG that opens with Frakes saying "These are the voyages of the starship Titan"...

Because this show isn't for you, or any of us.

It's for the Netflix generation.

And like when Enterprise thought it could keep "do its own thing", this show will suffer the same fate. At this moment (maybe they'll embrace canon, I could be wrong), I'm putting the chances of this being successful (6+ seasons) at 20%.

[jjh]

It's hard to know what "successful" even is in 2017. New Media subscribers vs. commercial television, etc.

The safest bet is that CBS doesn't even know what Success is for this series. (That could play to Discovery's advantage.)

[bhosp]

I genuinely don't understand why this show is being made, and not just a sequel to TNG that opens with Frakes saying "These are the voyages of the starship Titan"...

Because this show isn't for you, or any of us.

It's for the Netflix generation.

And like when Enterprise thought it could keep "do its own thing", this show will suffer the same fate. At this moment (maybe they'll embrace canon, I could be wrong), I'm putting the chances of this being successful (6+ seasons) at 20%.

That's just it--why are they making Enterprise again when there's an established business model for a nostalgia project like a show about Captain Riker?

[KillerB]

That's just it--why are they making Enterprise again when there's an established business model for a nostalgia project like a show about Captain Riker?

There's no chance of a 'nostalgia' project being a big hit. Successful trek, sure. But they're spinning the wheel trying to get a hit show. It's a bad bet, maybe 1%.

[AllenGould]

That's just it--why are they making Enterprise again when there's an established business model for a nostalgia project like a show about Captain Riker?

There's no chance of a 'nostalgia' project being a big hit. Successful trek, sure. But they're spinning the wheel trying to get a hit show. It's a bad bet, maybe 1%.

Also, look at Fuller House for a nostalgia project that crashed and burned. (And I wonder for a similar reason - getting Frakes back on weekly TV ain't gonna be cheap, and ditto for any other past regulars you want to get.)

[KillerB]

Also, look at Fuller House for a nostalgia project that crashed and burned. (And I wonder for a similar reason - getting Frakes back on weekly TV ain't gonna be cheap, and ditto for any other past regulars you want to get.)

Did it? It's my guilty pleasure. They got 2 seasons and are renewed for a 3rd. Allen, the Fuller House comparison proves BenHosp's point.

But enough of this Frakes talk, nobody wants to see fat Riker. Hell on Wheels is over, get me O'Brien!

[AllenGould]

Did it? It's my guilty pleasure. They got 2 seasons and are renewed for a 3rd. Allen, the Fuller House comparison proves BenHosp's point.

Did it really? Last I heard it hit Netflix, it got meh reviews, and then I never heard another word about it that wasn't a random pop culture reference. Learn something every day.

[BCSWowbagger]

Did it really? Last I heard it hit Netflix, it got meh reviews, and then I never heard another word about it that wasn't a random pop culture reference. Learn something every day.

I, too, was shocked, but Fuller House's ratings were bonkers good -- despite the very meh reviews.

Based on this, I think KillerB is right. Take the Star Trek show with the highest streaming ratings right now (I'm guessing DS9, simply because it's so bingeable), spin it off ("Nerys: The Young Kai") ("Garak: The Series") ("Come To Quark's!"), and make a billion dollars.

[KillerB]

Did it? It's my guilty pleasure. They got 2 seasons and are renewed for a 3rd. Allen, the Fuller House comparison proves BenHosp's point.

Did it really? Last I heard it hit Netflix, it got meh reviews, and then I never heard another word about it that wasn't a random pop culture reference. Learn something every day.

Allen.... cut, it, out.

[HoodieDM]

Did it really? Last I heard it hit Netflix, it got meh reviews, and then I never heard another word about it that wasn't a random pop culture reference. Learn something every day.

I, too, was shocked, but Fuller House's ratings were bonkers good -- despite the very meh reviews.

These the same reviewers that gave Iron Fist 15% rating, yet I highly enjoyed it and so has everyone else that Ive asked thats watched it?

Based on this, I think KillerB is right. Take the Star Trek show with the highest streaming ratings right now (I'm guessing DS9, simply because it's so bingeable), spin it off ("Nerys: The Young Kai") ("Garak: The Series") ("Come To Quark's!"), and make a billion dollars.

Id watch a drama theme thriller plot twist of Garak and the Obsidian Order for days. Quarks would be a comedy a lot like Cheers. Kiras...maybe Agent Carter? Get a whole 2 seasons and then get cut and women activists rampage Hollywood for 24 minutes? Or maybe The Orange is the New Black version, but during the Occupation of Bajor....

~D

[bhosp]

Did it? It's my guilty pleasure. They got 2 seasons and are renewed for a 3rd. Allen, the Fuller House comparison proves BenHosp's point.

Did it really? Last I heard it hit Netflix, it got meh reviews, and then I never heard another word about it that wasn't a random pop culture reference. Learn something every day.

Allen.... cut, it, out.

How rude.