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Sci-Fi Television

'Star Trek: Discovery' Premieres Tonight (ew.com) 456

An anonymous reader quotes EW.com: Tonight CBS will premiere the first new Star Trek TV series in 12 years at 8:30 p.m. on the company's regular broadcast network. Immediately afterward, the second episode of Star Trek: Discovery will stream exclusively on CBS All Access -- the company's $6 per month streaming service... CBS saw an opportunity to leverage the built-in popularity of Star Trek to help fuel its fledgling All Access streaming service. The service currently has about 1 million subscribers and the company's goal is to grow it to 4 million by 2020...

But once fans watch Discovery, they'll notice the show's production values aren't like a typical broadcast show, but more reminiscent of a premium cable or streaming show. CBS was able to justify spending a bit more money on Discovery since it's going onto the paid tier. Sometimes, you really do get what you pay for.

The Los Angeles Times reports each episode costs $8 million -- though Netflix is paying $6 million for each episode's international broadcast rights. The show's main title sequence has been released, and the Verge reports that the show is set before the original 1966 series (but after Star Trek: Enterprise) along with some other possible spoilers.

Space.com asked one of the show's actors who his favorite Star Trek captain was. "I mean, Kirk," answered James Frain, who plays the Vulcan Sarek in Discovery. "That's like, 'Who's your favorite James Bond?', and if you don't say 'Sean Connery,' really? Come on."
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'Star Trek: Discovery' Premieres Tonight

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  • Nope (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @04:38PM (#55255517)
    If it ain't on Amazon or Comcast, I'm not watching it. Not gonna pay monthly fees for yet another streaming service just to watch one TV show.
    • Re:Nope (Score:5, Insightful)

      by segedunum ( 883035 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @04:40PM (#55255533)
      That's the problem. They don't seem to realise this.
      • For once, an advantage in being in the "International" grouping. Its straight to netflix for me.

        • I should be in that group too, but somehow, I'm pretty sure Netflix Canada won't have it because CRTC or some other bullshit like an exclusive cable/satellite deal that also includes streaming.

          • Re:Nope (Score:5, Informative)

            by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @05:47PM (#55255959)

            Found something online:

            "Lucky Canadians. While the rest of the world has to figure out the right app to download and how to stream it to their TV, Canadians are just chilling. If you live in Canada, you can watch Star Trek: Discovery on the Space Channel, starting Sunday, September 24 at 8:30PM ET. Each episode will air on subsequent Sundays at 8:30PM ET.

            If you can’t catch Discovery at its regular date and time, each episode can be found through participating On Demand channels, as well as the Space Go app. If you are anti-Space Channel, you can stream the series through the CraveTV* streaming service starting Monday, September 25 at 10PM ET. Of course, access to Discovery on the CraveTV app requires a monthly subscription fee to the service."

            * CraveTV is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media.

            So it seems we're not getting Star Trek: Discovery via Netflix either. Fuck you, Bell Media.

      • Re:Nope (Score:4, Insightful)

        by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @05:28PM (#55255843)

        That's the problem. They don't seem to realise this.

        Is it a problem for them?

        The OP is already subscribed to a single streaming service, if they released every show on each streaming service the OP would still be subscribed to a single streaming service.

        But by breaking up the market there's a bunch of people who subscribe to more than one streaming service.

        It sucks for the consumer but it's great for the industry.

        • Re:Nope (Score:5, Interesting)

          by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @05:42PM (#55255925)
          Maybe, maybe not. Depends on people's willingness to be nickle-and-dimed. To date, most of the streaming services have been content delivery platforms only and people only had one or two at a time (counting cable). Not so sure people are willing to have make the psychological leap to subscribe to N different services for N different TV shows. There's a spectrum between all-or-nothing bundling on the one side, total a-la-carte on the other, and this CBS venture seems like it falls into an uncanny valley somewhere in between.
      • by Zocalo ( 252965 )
        Why *would* they realise this? People in the US have been asking for a-la-carte TV for years (decades?) rather than the bundles full of unwanted cable channels they've been forced to pay for in order to get the few they actually wanted. Now that they're finally on board with it, the Internet is providing broadcasters with a means to both cut out the cable middle-man and deliver those a-la-carte services, so of *course* they're expecting all those holdouts to finally cut the cord and just pay for the chann
        • Different people have different definitions of a-la-carte. It can be by channel, or by show. And it can mean an added fee to one service or having to do business with (as in give credit card information, keep it updated when card changes, etc etc) N different companies for N different a-la-carte items.

          Add to that the psychological block people (like me) will have in paying money to an over-the-air broadcast network and you've got yourself a big fat wrench in the works.
          • by Zocalo ( 252965 )
            Sure, but which definition do you think that CBS is more likely to use - given that (for now, at least) they can hardly put together a bundle that includes content from other broadcasters? They've provided an option to acquire some of their content outside of a bundle - either standalone or in conjunction with another package - which is pretty much what people have been asking for. It's also potentially only a first step for them; maybe next, they'll go further down the pay-per-view route and let you pay
      • Re:Nope (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Marxist Hacker 42 ( 638312 ) * <seebert42@gmail.com> on Sunday September 24, 2017 @09:19PM (#55256861) Homepage Journal

        My new favorite Captain is Ed of the Orville. He's closer to Trek than either CBS or Paramount has been in decades.

        • Re:Nope (Score:4, Interesting)

          by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @11:39PM (#55257237)

          I happen to agree.
          Having seen discovery I was really kinda let down.
          1. The characters were not really interesting. They were the same tropes over again. Part Vulcan part human who is at war with their emotions... yawn seen it.

          2. They messed with the Klingons a bit too far. Originally I was OK with the more alien looking makeup. However after they talk and moved it just looked and felt fake. Even when they talked in Klingon it was slurred speech like they had marbles in their mouth. Then having them very religious with elaborate ceremonies just didn’t say warrior culture.

          3. 1 hour for 15 minuets of content. I’ll avoid spoilers but there was too much exposition for stuff I really didn’t care about at the moment.

          4. The lack of fun... this plays like an early 2000 SyFi Chanel show. Dark and deep with a lot going on all meaning little. We live in bad times already I want some some escapism.

          Perhaps I was just pissed because it got delayed and I sat threw Opra trying to moderate a bunch of Trump and Non-Trump supporters both just giving the standard excused that pissed me off before the show started. But I wasn’t too pleased with the show. And the fact that they want me to pay money to see the other episode is just insulting. If you are going to stream it put it on Hulu or American Netflix. I don’t want an other monthly bill just to watch a mediocre show.
          If it was broadcast or on a normal streaming service then I may want to give it a view.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I was pleasantly surprised by episode 3 of The Orville. It could easily have been a TNG or Voyager episode.

          • I think it was a combination of 2 TNG Episodes, with a McFarlane twist. The one where the monosexual "woman" fell in love with Riker, and the tribunal which decided whether or not Data was a person.

            Updated, of course, for Seth's humor, bad acting, and the utter chaos of how our culture is handling transgender issues.

    • It's literally on broadcast television.

      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        The first episode is. The rest of the series is not.

    • Re:Nope (Score:5, Informative)

      by skirtsteak_asshat ( 1622625 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @04:52PM (#55255599)
      If you read carefully you'll see you can watch the show for free next week...
      • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

        If you read carefully you'll see you can watch the show for free next week...

        Where?

        Tonight CBS will premiere the first new Star Trek TV series in 12 years at 8:30 p.m. on the company’s regular broadcast network.

        Immediately afterward, the second episode of Star Trek: Discovery will stream exclusively on CBS All Access — the company’s $6 per month streaming service...

        After this week, the third episode will air Oct. 1 exclusively on All Access, and so will the rest of the episodes throughout the show’s first season. (Internationally, the show will air weekly on

    • by jmccue ( 834797 )

      Not to mention I cannot stream it on Linux, if that was supported I would consider it, but oh well, one less show to follow :)

    • If it ain't on Amazon or Comcast, I'm not watching it. Not gonna pay monthly fees for yet another streaming service just to watch one TV show.

      Wait until the end of the season, when it will be on Netflix.

  • by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @04:42PM (#55255537)
    ... the footballs games don't run late and all the DVRs miss the new start time. Sunday evening on CBS is The Worst Time for TV shows to air.
    • by fyngyrz ( 762201 )

      I think what you're presuming is that the show will be watched OTA to any significant degree. There are very few TV antennas left in my town; the inconvenience is just too high compared to the ability to time-shift streaming. Not to mention being inundated with commercials.

      I haven't watched anything OTA in years, nor do I ever expect to again.

      • I think what you're presuming is that the show will be watched OTA to any significant degree... No. What I am presuming is that the premiere broadcast will be on the broadcast network of CBS, on cable in addition to OTA. No antenna needed for me. I have a DVR, I don't see commercials. And I don't have to pay $6 per month to watch a single show. You may have differing preferences.

      • by DaHat ( 247651 )

        There must be no millennials in your town then: https://www.wsj.com/articles/m... [wsj.com]

        Or the OTA antennas have moved indoors. It is shocking to me how many people I know who rely on OTA for some portion of their video consumption, none of who use an outdoor antenna.

        Last month I dropped a OTA tuner, antenna and Raspberry Pi in another timezone just so I could watch out of state football games without paying for a service... and I am not a millennial.

    • by Megane ( 129182 )

      Fortunately, while Fox ran the first two episodes of The Orville on Sunday night in the "overtime death slot", they wisely moved it to Thursday nights. And yes, this Sunday's episode was 45 minutes late because of handegg. At least about a year or so they got a clue about their Sunday night regular (mostly) animation block and started running sacrificial reruns in the first time slot, JIPping them if sports ran overtime, so DVRs can properly get all the new episodes.

      Meanwhile, I missed quite a few episodes

  • by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @05:28PM (#55255847)

    Put it on showtime!!!

  • They managed to find a couple minutes of very good footage, so I'll give it a watch.
    I don't have high expectations. I still remember Voyager when every episode I asked myself why haven't the crew or the maqui killed Janeway by the end.
    Then there was Enterprise that had that lousy theme song that was just plain irritating.
    Or next generation where picard tried to talk everyone to death.

    Maybe they can get another DS-9 not going to hold my breath.

    • >Then there was Enterprise that had that lousy theme song that was just plain irritating.

      As a general rule, I categorize people who complain about the Enterprise theme as 'people who are impossible to please'.

      There was nothing wrong with that theme except that it wasn't the orchestral piece you were expecting. There was a LOT wrong with Enterprise... and like Voyager, most of it was predictable from the pilot script.

      • De gustibus non est disputandum

      • No, it was shit. It sounded like an impersonation of Rod Stewart, and not a good one, whatever the hell that would sound like. The thing about the orchestral pieces is that they are not only epic, but more importantly they are never dated. The Enterprise theme song was horrible at the time — now it's worse.

        And look, I say this as someone who overall liked the show; I think Voyager was weaker. And I say that as someone who overall liked Janeway. But back on topic, I liked how people weren't so damned i

  • by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @05:47PM (#55255963)

    Is that number accurate - and is that a million paid subscribers? If so, I'm quite surprised.

    But, in any case, our household will not be included in that group.

  • by wjcofkc ( 964165 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @05:51PM (#55255989)
    As thought thousands of die hard Star Wars fans rejoiced in one voice, then laughed at their Trek friends, then went back to Cheetos and video games.
  • by nsaspook ( 20301 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @06:10PM (#55256079) Homepage

    Unless it's at least R rated with fully nude green alien women on stripper poles.

  • Seriously... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by WaffleMonster ( 969671 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @07:10PM (#55256423)

    Doubling down on crappy looking Klingons
    Trailers filled with NOTHING but weapons fire and CG overload
    gay/trans/ethnic political bullshit turned up to 11
    I have to pay to see the rest of a TV series
    If I pay to see the rest of a TV series I should expect to be rewarded with spyware installed on whatever I'm watching from.

    CBS all access privacy policy says:

    "Websites or other services you visited before and after visiting a CBS Interactive Services"

    "Information about your interactions with audio and video content, such as the type of content listened to (including music applications such as iTunes, Spotify and Last.fm) and content viewed, and information about your interactions with email messages, such as the links clicked on and whether the messages were opened or forwarded;"

    "Upon request, your bandwidth speed and information about the software programs installed on your computer including registry key information; and"

    So basically if you watch Star trek you should assume spyware will be installed on whatever your watching it from to spy on EVERYTHING you do even if it has NOTHING to do with CBS all access.

    This will be the first star trek I don't even bother watching even out of curiosity.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      gay/trans/ethnic political bullshit turned up to 11

      I haven't seen it yet, but where did you get this from? Unless it's really overt in the first episode, the trailer certainly never made anything of any of those issues. I don't think there was any hint that any character was gay or trans at all, in fact. Lots of shows have gay characters anyway now, it's not remarkable.

      What primed you to have this reaction?

  • for a rehashed program that you know will be nothing but social commentary 100% of the time, there's always magnetic links.

  • by jsrjsr ( 658966 ) on Sunday September 24, 2017 @10:26PM (#55257047)
    What a piece of crap this is.
  • by hey! ( 33014 ) on Monday September 25, 2017 @12:15AM (#55257331) Homepage Journal

    A pop-culture story has to introduce it's protagonist and get you invested in his struggles quickly; until then its living on borrowed time.

    This pilot wasted a lot of time and crucial early scenes, in part I think giving in to same temptation that got George Lucas on Phantom Menace: showing off what you can do with an unlimited budget. There is dialog in the ST:Discovery pilot that exists solely to to stretch out SFX shots. J.J. Abrams has said that he found Star Trek pacing slow, but I disagree; it just took a long time to get to the action scene. That time was taken up with drama. On this pilot that time is taken up with furniture.

    The director also made the unfortunate decision to shoot much of the pilot in the Klingon language with English subtitles. This isn't at all like watching, say a Japanese movie with English subtitles. Japanese is a real language that evolved to fill human needs. Klingon was designed by professional linguists to sound alien, and it works well enough for saying things like "Fire all disruptors!" But it was painful to watch actors struggling to emote through heavy prosthetics while forcing their tongues to perform inhuman phonetic acrobatics. That meant that you got almost the entire sense of the scene through the subtitles. Also by overexposing the Klingons so early they seem less threatening. We know too much about what's going on (having read a lot of subtitles), but none of it adds to the suspense or drama of the story.

    Altogether this is hot mess. Often TV shows have difficulty launching while spoon feeding viewers all the information they know, but despite the sumptuous visuals this one wasn't competently put together.

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