The moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. After spending Discovery’s second season thinking, “Holy crap, a Pike series starring Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn would be fabulous,” the powers that be at CBS have shown (a) that they agree, and (b) they’re willing to put their money where all our mouths are.
In light of this joyous occasion, here are seven thoughts on this new series from me…
If at all possible, they should find a way to get Laurel Goodwin onscreen at some point.
The actor who played Yeoman Colt, Goodwin is the only cast member from “The Cage” who’s still alive. It would be a nice tribute if she could get on camera, even if it’s just for a minute.
Will Spock eclipse Worf’s record?
Currently, the character of Worf, son of Mogh, has the record for most appearances in the Trek canon, having been in 276 episodes of TNG and DS9, as well as four feature films. At present, Spock, son of Sarek, has appeared in 115 episodes of the original and animated series, TNG, Discovery, and Short Treks, as well as eight feature films. Will SNW last the 150+ episodes needed? And will Worf appear on Picard to extend his record? The gauntlet has been thrown!
The casting should absolutely not be beholden to “The Cage.”
Conveniently, Discovery season two took place in 2257, which is three years after when “The Cage” took place. This means enough time has passed that people can have transferred off and other people have come in—so there’s really no excuse for having an all-white cast like “The Cage” had. The Earth of the 23rd century is supposed to be united, and we should follow the leads of both Discovery and Picard and see people from all over the Earth.
I’m not really concerned on this front, as one of the hallmarks of the Trek shows produced by Secret Hideout is a commitment to casting (and nomenclature) choices that represent the entire planet, not just white folks and/or folks from the United States, a default that previous iterations of Trek tended toward far too often. (The first five TV series had all of three Asians in the main cast, and two of them were established as being born in North America.)
In particular, I hope that they bring Amrit Kaur back from “Ask Not” to play Thira Sidhu. I also would very much like an Indigenous character who isn’t a big honking stereotype, just to wash the taste of Chakotay out of everyone’s mouth.
One potential exception: Dr. Boyce. Established in “The Cage” as Pike’s best friend and confidant, I think it would be good to bring him back. (Some fans online have been pushing Jeffrey Combs, who has already played 974 different Trek roles, though Combs himself has said there’s little chance of it.) I mean, somebody’s gotta be Pike’s drinking buddy. My only concern is that it might become too much of a rerun of the Kirk-McCoy friendship (which was pretty much Gene Roddenberry redoing the Pike-Boyce friendship anyhow).
Let’s hope Akiva Goldsman meant it when he said it wouldn’t be serialized.
Serialized shows certainly have their place, but it shouldn’t be the default—any more than standalone shows should be the default. The sweet spot, to my mind, is what Deep Space Nine did—and, for that matter, what the Stargate shows did—and have each episode tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end, but have the character arcs continue from week to week. Discovery and Picard are obviously going to keep following the serialized model, and that’s fine, but Strange New Worlds needs to distinguish itself beyond “yes, we’re giving these cool actors more to do.” Making it more of a series of adventures instead of huge season-long storylines is a great way to do that.
More L’Rell!
My only real disappointment with Discovery moving the action a thousand years into the future is that we wouldn’t get to see more of L’Rell in her new position as head of the Klingon Empire. She quickly became one of my favorite characters thanks to Mary Chieffo’s noble, elegant portrayal, and the existing relationship that Pike has with L’Rell is something that they’ve just got to play with. And as someone who has written a lot about Klingons over the years, I’m really looking forward to how they continue to bridge the gap between the Empire as we saw it in Enterprise and how we saw it in the original series.
This needs to be Number One’s show.
We know what happens to Christopher Pike, both before and after when SNW takes place. We know—in graphic, gory, endless detail—what happens to Spock, both before and especially after SNW takes place, in his case going a century into the future.
But we don’t know diddly about Number One. Unlike Pike and Spock, her role in Discovery’s second season was minimal (but fantastic), and, outside of a couple of Short Treks, she’s never appeared in any other iteration of Trek. She’s a complete blank slate.
On top of that, she’s fabulous. That the network objected to Majel Barrett’s presence in “The Cage” is, perhaps, the most frustrating of all the notes NBC gave Gene Roddenberry about his failed pilot, as the character had many great moments throughout, culminating in her crowning moment of awesome where she calmly sets her weapon on overload to avoid continuing as the Talosians’ slaves. And she wore blue nail polish!
Romijn took that template and ran with it, giving us a smart, sassy, supremely competent officer. I’ve wanted to see more of Number One ever since I saw “The Menagerie” as a kid on my tiny TV screen at home in the 1970s, and Romijn’s tantalizingly brief portrayal on Discovery has increased that desire a billionfold. She’s already proven she can handle any role she’s given (she was superlative on The Librarians as Eve Baird).
With Pike, there are limits, because we know he will wind up badly injured and then sent to Talos IV to live out an illusory happy life. With Spock, we know he’ll find his best friend in Pike’s successor and have two distinguished careers, first as an officer, then as a diplomat, before falling through a black hole to an alternate timeline where he’ll inspire his younger alternate self.
But the sky’s the limit with Number One. So let’s see all of that sky, please!
Is this a new record?
So, “The Cage” was filmed in 1964 as a pilot for a new series. It finally got its series order in 2020. I gotta ask—is this the longest period between pilot and series order in television history?
What are your thoughts on Strange New Worlds? Let us know in the comments!
Keith R.A. DeCandido has done rewatches or reviews of a great deal of Star Trek for this site. His rewatches of the original and animated series, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine ran from 2011-2017, and he’s currently in the midst of a rewatch of Voyager, and he’s also reviewed every episode of Discovery, Short Treks, and Picard as they’ve been released. His other Trek work includes sixteen novels, thirteen novellas, seven short stories, one reference book, and six comic books, as well as articles for various magazines and essay anthologies.
I’m pretty excited. It took them a while and I was starting to get worried that they’d let the opportunity pass. Glad that was unfounded. I really do hope that they go more episodic for this. Like you said, we know where a lot of these characters end up, so a huge epic storyline would fall a little flat. I want some good adventures with solid character work.
I burst out laughing at the question about whether this is a new record! Love it.
@00 / KRAD:
The sweet spot, to my mind, is what Deep Space Nine did—and, for that matter, what the Stargate shows did—and have each episode tell a story with a beginning, middle, and end, but have the character arcs continue from week to week.
Yeah, I was actually just saying that over the weekend in Tor’s original announcement post.
I completely agree that Stargate in the later years struck a perfect balance of ongoing story arcs and ‘Planets of the Week’. It was always inevitable post-ENT relaunch of televised Trek happened, that the franchise would do well to learn from Stargate‘s lessons (and, as you pointed out, the similar balance DS9 struck).
I totally hadn’t thought about L’Rell, and I wholeheartedly agree with you, krad!
Good point about Number One. She’s basically the Ahsoka Tano here — the one lead character who has the freedom to grow and evolve because her future isn’t predetermined like the two male leads’ are. Ditto for whatever other supporting characters they add.
In the abstract, I find the idea of a Pike series unnecessary, since Kirk and McCoy were basically just Pike and Boyce renamed to start with, and Number One’s attributes were mostly folded into Spock, so effectively we already had that show, just with a better cast than “The Cage” had. In concept, it feels redundant. But Mount, Peck, and Romijn were effective enough that I am interested in seeing them do more. The question is whether they can make the stories good enough to make it more than just an indulgence in actor appreciation or nostalgia. Taking an episodic-with-character-growth approach is promising, but it remains to be seen what the episodes will be about.
Yes, seeing this from Number One’s perspective would be wise, and a ‘lower decks’ perspective wouldn’t hurt either. It’s a big ship with, hopefully, a return to the community atmosphere of early TOS.
I wholeheartedly agree that Dr. Boyce would be wonderful to see! And I’d like to see Yeoman Colt, just to see if she’s figured out how to avoid crashing into Pike every time she comes onto the bridge! And I’d like to see Jose Tyler too, but actually cast a Latino actor this time, would ya, huh?
@5 / CLB:
The question is whether they can make the stories good enough to make it more than just an indulgence in actor appreciation or nostalgia. Taking an episodic-with-character-growth approach is promising, but it remains to be seen what the episodes will be about.
Like I was saying last weekend, I think the format and intent of ENT’s final Season might be a good approach.
This show could follow up on the continued fallout from DSC’s initial Seasons (especially with, as Keith pointed out, L’Rell and the Klingon Empire) while also further setting up events to come a decade later once Kirk assumes captaincy of the 1701 (even events to come into the 24th Century if warranted).
But, yeah, it would need to be handled organically so that it’s genuinely interesting and warranted and not just, as you stated, nostalgia-driven.
We’ve seen two members of the House of Kor on Discovery, it would be nice to see the man himself.
@7/leandar: I’d rather not see Colt, because we’re presumably at least 4 years after “The Cage” by this point, and I doubt an enlisted crewperson would realistically stay in the yeoman post for that long without getting promoted or transferred or mustered out or something. Although Colt was actually name-dropped in a Discovery episode, though there’s some confusion about whether the name was used for an alien extra.
As for Tyler, who needs him? He and Garison were non-entities. His name was never even spoken onscreen — we only know it from behind-the-scenes materials. Part of the reason NBC rejected “The Cage” was that the cast wasn’t really all that interesting. Let’s not be slavish to nostalgia. As Keith said, let’s take advantage of the passage of time and introduce a new supporting crew that’s got a better balance of genders, ethnicities, and species.
@8/Mr. Magic: “Like I was saying last weekend, I think the format and intent of ENT’s final Season might be a good approach.”
Ooh, yes, I loved that format, the mix of 1-, 2-, and 3-part storylines. It gave them a lot of flexibility, and I’ve always wished more shows would use that approach.
Added to the above since I can’t edit (I really should just take the time and make an account), the only problem about bringing Kor into the series is that he and Spock can never meet as Kor didn’t recognize him in Errand of Mercy.
I too heartily applaud this hint (I’ll reserve judgment till I see it) that this series will be written towards the recently neglected end of the episodic-serialized spectrum …
… because I object to serialization done badly. (I reject the term “arc” in recent-Trek context. It’s lost all precision since Babylon 5, but in my head, an “arc” requires that you aim for an endpoint and pass through planned midpoints. If a show changes its executive staff repeatedly, its plot is wandering, not directed.)
The failure of ST:DSC’s serialization was so aggravating IMHO because there are several successful precedents: the aforementioned Stargate series, plus Eureka and Warehouse 13. I’ve been re-watching the latter and they’re simply so much more entertaining than DSC or PIC. At no point do I scream the Eight Deadly Words: “I don’t care what happens to these people.” One secret seems to be: keep the story arcs short, so that several fit in a season. (Conversely, shows that were engaging but on the scale of individual episodes: On Battlestar Galactica the Cylons did not, in fact, have a plan, and on Earth: Final Conflict the Taelon plan was lost in season-by-season changes in direction.)
Spock will not break Worf’s record unless the current actor playing Spock runs 279 -plus episodes as Spock.
I’m generally excited by the project since all three of the leads/characters are good and interesting. Who knows what we’ll get by just the title Strange New Worlds has me hooked. If they had one background overarching story line for the season, continuing character development but for each stand alone ep just go to one weird new world to explore/meet aliens/ have some action i’d be thrilled.
Cope with Iron rain while having a first contact: win. Just have the writers look at all the weird new kinds of exo planets out there now as a starter.
@10 / CLB:
Ooh, yes, I loved that format, the mix of 1-, 2-, and 3-part storylines. It gave them a lot of flexibility, and I’ve always wished more shows would use that approach.
Yeah, structurally it was always very comic book-esque to me. It felt like an ongoing run with rotating arcs, done-in-one interludes, etc.
I wish more shows would do it, too.
@11/Steve McMullan: “…the only problem about bringing Kor into the series is that he and Spock can never meet as Kor didn’t recognize him in Errand of Mercy.”
Hmm, that creates a complication for the comics miniseries Discovery: Aftermath, which focuses on Pike and Spock post-season 2 as they participate in peace talks with Chancellor L’Rell. Kor is present at the peace talks, and he and Spock are in the same room in a couple of scenes. On the other hand, it takes place in the gap before the closing scenes of the season 2 finale, so Spock still has his beard during the talks. I guess it’s possible that Kor didn’t recognize him clean-shaven. But on the other hand, you’d think he would’ve remembered meeting a Starfleet officer named Spock. Although he sustained a head injury in the comic, so maybe he forgot?
ragnarredbeard: Um, huh? I wasn’t talking about actors, I was talking about characters. Ethan Peck isn’t likely to challenge Michael Dorn’s record, but that’s not what I was talking about, I was talking about appearances of the character Spock and the character Worf, regardless of actor. I mean, Saavik has appeared in three movies, not one or two……
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
@13: Krad was referring to the record of the characters’ appearances of Spock vs. Worf, not of the actors playing them. But yes, Michael Dorn far and away holds the record and should be in no fear of any actor beating if for most appearances by an actor playing the same character.
@11: Kor can still appear but it can be in a situation where Spock is nowhere around, maybe off on a secondary missions for example while the rest of the crew faces off with Kor. Kang would be another good character to bring to this series for an appearance.
I agree with Krad that you can’t be beholden to the same casting as it was in “The Cage” because that just won’t fly today. I also agree a better realized Indigenous character than Chakotay would be great. Supposing we get 4 to 6 more leads beyond the already cast main 3, how about make the majority of them women, if only to have the first ever Trek series that was a majority woman cast and showing little girls today that the future of space exploration won’t just be a man’s world?
I’m also particularly excited about the Number One character as well as she is a blank slate and we don’t know her ultimate fate. As established in “The Cage”, we may get further hints of her attraction to Pike or maybe she’s buried them even further beneath the surface once the Talosians exposed her true feelings.
And regarding Pike, it’ll be interesting to see how the writers deal with him on an episodic basis where Pike knows he can’t die because it’s not his time yet. I’m sure they’ll have to contrive ways in which other members of the crew are still in mortal jeopardy or the ship can be destroyed when Pike isn’t aboard. And of course Pike can always still be injured and feel pain without dying so I’m sure he wouldn’t get too reckless. But speaking for myself, if I knew I were about to reach a grisly fate in a matter of several years or so, I’d become a hedonist and have every pleasurable and fun experience while I still could. So I’m also very interested in seeing how Pike’s character changes post-time crystal experience. Does he become like Kirk and bed every guest-starring babe of the week?
I hope none of the familiar characters outside of the Enterprise crew are brought in to this series. Leave Kor, Kang, and the rest to TOS and come up with some original characters. Original aliens, too.
It’s Strange New Worlds, guys.
@@@@@ 7 & 10 – We’ve already seen Colt and no, there is no confusion since it came directly from an interview with one of the showrunners. You may not agree with it but it’s right there in black and white (and red and scaly)
We’ve already seen Yeoman Colt.
INTERVIEW: Diving Into STAR TREK: DISCOVERY’s Finale with Season 3 Co-Showrunner Michelle Paradise
TREKCORE: There was an actor credited as ‘Yeoman Colt’ in Part 1, a character from “The Cage” – the original episode with Captain Pike – but she wasn’t called out by name that we noticed. Was she in a scene that ended up being cut, or…
PARADISE: No, she was one of the Enterprise bridge crew. We had Lt. Mann, Lt. Nicola, Lt. Amin, and Yeoman Colt.
TREKCORE: Was she the alien character with the spiked face? In the original pilot, she was a human…
PARADISE: Yes, I believe that was her. Amin was at the helm, Mann and Nicola was a bit further back, so yes, that would have been Yeoman Colt.
We never learned Number One’s full name, did we? We do learn at some point that her given name is Una.
(Una … One … yeah.)
At some point, a season or so in, we should — even if they wait until she’s promoted to captain and given a ship of her own. The ambition and drive leading to that might be how she channels her efforts to repress her feelings for Pike.
She’s a great character, but unfortunately I think at some point L’Rell may die, possibly in a coup d’etat. At some point the hawks in the Empire will want to take over once they feel they’re strong enough to take on the Federation again. Maybe not until late, but definitely some time before the timeline connects up with that of TOS.
Since neither Yeoman Colt’s name is ever spoken on-screen, it’s not really an issue, is it?
18/GarretH makes the point about Pike better than I did in discussing the Tor’s original announcement post. I think SNW — if it is focused on Pike, and KRAD and others above make the point that perhaps it shouldn’t be — will have to deal, at some point, with Pike’s foreknowledge of his future. Setting aside the fact that Kirk did not, in fact, “bed every guest-starring babe of the week,” my impression, based on “The Cage,” is that Pike might tend more toward pensive melancholy than Kirk usually did. (As Christopher pointed out in last week’s discussion, we catch Pike at an especially low moment in “The Cage,” and Kirk had his moments of pensive melancholy, too — all granted. And it’s hard to compare Hunter’s one appearance as Pike to all of Shatner’s as Kirk.)
I also wonder whether Pike having this foreknowledge of his fate is somehow at odds with Trek’s general attitude toward the future — namely, that it isn’t ever written in stone. I think there was even something said to that effect in DSC’s season 2 finale. So all this is to say, should they want to mine any angsty moments for Pike, there’s plenty there to work with.
I guess I’m in the minority, but I’m ready to be done with Klingons for a while. Maybe SNW can get back to the original premise of the Enterprise being out on the far frontier, distant from headquarters for most of the time, captain and crew having to “make it up as they go along,” guided by their values and their gut more than marching orders. I hope that’s what the episodic nature of the show will mean: less deep dives into established stuff it might be nice, as fans, to know more about, and more about giving us something “strange” and “new” and unexpected. Although SNW will be set before TOS, and would appropriately end with Pike turning command of the Big E over to Kirk, I don’t think it should be too concerned about “paving the way” for TOS.
Mr Decandido, I especially like your last point – it’s one of the more delightful portions of food for thought I’ve seen served up recently! (-:
What I’d really like to see from this show is more from the Tellarites – Humans are ubiquitous, the Vulcans are long-runners, the Andorians seem to have had their moment to shine in ENTERPRISE, but the Tellarites are still very underdeveloped; One imagines that their cultural emphasis on argument and counter-argument could be fertile soil from which to produce some excellent wordplay (whenever I think of Tellarites, those scenes from LINCOLN where the US legislature basically turns into one long duel of words comes to mind).
Yes! I’m all for the Number One show!
I’d like to see no more than the level of serialisation we saw in, say, Russell T Davies’ early seasons show-running Doctor Who. Tiny threads embedded in episodes which come together in a season finale, but which themselves are subtle enough that you aren’t required to notice them at the time, and that you aren’t required to re-watch them in order to enjoy the finale.
Honestly, I’d be happiest if they were just individual episodes of traditional Trek which more or less can be watched in any order. Show up somewhere each episode, entertain me, make me think, tootle off somewhere else for the following episode.
I love the recent serialised series, and they should continue as they are, but something of a contrasting different pace would be welcome. One of the strengths of the Trek of days past is that it’s perfectly possible to just be in the mood to re-watch a certain episode and to dive in and do it. In future will I be less likely to re-watch Discovery or Picard because doing so is a multi-episode commitment? Maybe.
Are they going to be on a 5 year mission exploring deep space, far from other Federation ships and planets? If so I hope they take advantage of something that I wanted both Enterprise and Voyager to do. Between episodes visiting planets they should have some entirely ship based bottle episodes. No aliens, no bumping into anything, no countdown to save the ship – just give us some character plays exploring both ideas and the crew. It’ll enable the budget for spectacular set piece episodes to be that much more generous.
On Voyager I would have loved them to be brave enough to, say, set an episode entirely within the mess hall. Just have the crew come and go in real time to get some supper. Or follow “Data’s Day” to its logical conclusion and focus entirely on a character for a day. That could have been a great if they’d done it with Seven while she was still settling into the crew and finding herself as an individual.
@22 Putting them out of reach of Starfleet HQ might take more narrative work than it did for TOS. The world is a lot smaller than it was back in the day so the audience might not be as willing to accept that Pike et al can’t just phone home.
Yes to the Tellerites or any other aliens that haven’t been a major presence in other series. While I like Klingons, the writers risk making a nuisance of continuity if they keep going back to that well. They should focus on the blank spaces of the map and leave continuity/nostalgia porn to the footnotes.
@26 – Kirk and company were able to “phone home” in TOS, it’s just that sometimes there were time lags in the communication with Starfleet depending on the particular episode. I haven’t done a systematic survey but the vicissitudes of contacting Starfleet (or at least some official administrative center within the United Earth or UFP bureaucracy) seemed to be pretty random, depending on the needs of the plot.
@26
I believe the only overarching narrative they need is to… boldly go where none have gone before. ;)
I think you’re being short-sighted when it comes to diversity. One hope I had for STD (and Picard) is that they’d embrace diversity but, sadly, it’s still mostly a damn bunch of humans. For all the Federation claims to be about inclusivity, it seems to be a Human’s club with an occasional (usually one-off) alien on board. This is an opportunity to have ACTUAL diversity and have Pike and Una be in the minority. Give me some aliens on board, is what I’m saying
RIch, you’re forgetting that these are STARFLEET vessels, not Federation ships. Starfleet is an Earth organization. There may be an occasional Vulcan or other non-human onboard, but that’s the exception. Vulcan has it’s own ships crewed by Vulcans…the same for other Federation worlds.
@30: Yeah, that’d be great, but diversity in real-life races is more important than diversity in fictional species, I think.
@31: What? Starfleet isn’t an Earth organization, it’s the military arm of the Federation. Why would an Earth organization be the frontline force against basically every conflict or war the Federation was ever involved in?
@31/Captain Dunsel: Perhaps you’re confused because the United Earth Starfleet of Enterprise shares its name with the Federation Starfleet of the subsequent series. It’s true that the first half-season of TOS did portray the Enterprise as an Earth ship, but once the Federation was introduced in “Arena,” Starfleet was treated from then on as a Federation organization.
@32- It’s… complicated. Starfleet started as an Earth organization. It eventually developed into the primary military/exploration/diplomat shuttling arm of the United Federation of Planets, but exactly when that happened seems to be shaky. Early TOS had Kirk reporting back to UESPA, the United Earth Space Probe Agency, mostly because the show hadn’t quite settled on the nature and nomenclature of Starfleet and the Federation yet, but subsequent series referred back to the UESPA often enough to make it hard to just pretend it never happened. As of Discovery, there’s apparently a separate Vulcan Expeditionary Group, although that certainly doesn’t seem to be the case by Deep Space Nine, where an all-Vulcan ship captained by a Vulcan chauvinist is still a part of Starfleet.
@34/CuttlefishBenjamin: “subsequent series referred back to the UESPA often enough to make it hard to just pretend it never happened.”
Not much. The only post-TOS references to UESPA were in Voyager: “Friendship One” as the organization that launched the titular probe in 2067, and a couple of times in Enterprise as a part of Starfleet Command (or vice-versa) in the 2150s. There was an in-joke reference on the Enterprise-B’s dedication plaque in Generations, but that’s not actually part of the narrative, just the graphics department having a bit of fun and taking up space on the plaque, despite Memory Alpha’s misleading tendency to treat such things as canonical.
“As of Discovery, there’s apparently a separate Vulcan Expeditionary Group”
As a division of the Vulcan Science Academy, so it’s probably not the equivalent of Starfleet. Remember, Sarek wanted Spock to join the VEG and opposed him joining Starfleet because of its militaristic tendencies. So it follows that the VEG is not a defense force, purely a research organization.
Regarding Krad’s last point – I think it’s debatable whether SNW sets a record for longest time span between pilot to series order because one could argue, as I would, the SNW isn’t directly following “The Cage” given the literal span of decades, different actors playing the originally conceived characters, and presumably the changing around of the other main characters aside from Pike/Spock/Number One. Rather, SNW is really just a spin-off of DSC. But still, it’s no less awesome, that Pike and crew finally get their own show nearly 60 years after the first aborted attempt.
@22: I know Kirk didn’t bed every guest babe of the week. It was every other week. Lol :op
Regarding your presumption that Pike would be predisposed to pensive melancholy based on “The Cage”, I think that might be the case pre-time crystal experience, but having such a life altering vision of the future could very well change someone’s entire character. And even if this weren’t the case, as you yourself pointed out, “The Cage” was just a single episode where we got to see just a tiny glimpse of Pike. Now he’s getting his own series and will have an actor that will undoubtedly put his own take on the character.
@31: @32 is correct in that Starfleet isn’t an Earth organization. While the headquarters is on Earth, it is absolutely not meant to be just for humans and the occasional alien that wants to join, and is the military/exploratory arm of the Federation. It’s just for real-life practical purposes that Starfleet is mostly manned by humans. So @30’s point of having a mostly alien senior staff isn’t an impossibility within the universe of Star Trek and Starfleet in particular, but I would agree with @32 that it’s more important to show real-life human ethnic diversity amongst this cast. I wouldn’t be surprised though if we got at least one alien character that is a brand new species to this Trek series despite being a prequel much like we got with the Denobulans on ENT and the Kelpians on DSC.
@23: Yes, Andorians definitely had an opportunity in the spotlight in ENT but if ENT had continued into a 5th season, Shran would have been a regular. So my point is because that didn’t happen, we now have the chance to have a regular Andorian character in the main cast, and one that could be quite an original personality compared to Shran who I feel like was really the only Andorian character we really got to know on ENT (although admittedly I was no hard core viewer or fan of that series).
Regarding more technical aspects of SNW, it would be awesome and very fitting if we got the familiar “these are the voyages…” voiceover during the main theme but obviously given by Pike (Anson Mount). And regarding the actual theme music itself, I would be super stoked if Hans Zimmer of Ramin Djawadi were contracted to do it. Those guys I feel are like the Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner of today’s TV/film composers. I’m sure they’re expensive AF to hire but they’d be worth it as Star Trek is after all the crown jewel of CBS All Access.
Garreth: You do get that my last point was a joke, right? :)
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
As I get older, I find myself becoming curiously more and more optimistic. That seems wrong, somehow. I think Pike Trek will be an overwhelmingly positive experience with just the right amount of serialized and episodic content, unsullied by the Overthink that seems to be the hallmark of the Powers-that-Be.
@37: Whoops! I guess not! I was taking you too literally. Silly me!
@38
Overthink! Yes, I was just thinking the same.
If they really want to make a nostalgic Star Trek series — I mean beyond the superficial nostalgia of catchphrases and repeated iconography and interconnected ‘remember thats’ that litter pop culture and are gradually dragging it down into the Dark Abyss of Meh — then all they have to do is make an optimistic, episodic series about a ship on the frontier visiting ‘strange new worlds’ with stories that have something to say about society. That’s it. The formula is fairly straightforward.
It actually makes sense for ships to have a crew that is entirely or primarily of one species, just for medical reasons alone. Sure, it was neat seeing the various aliens scattered among the crew in TMP but how man doctors are certified to care for those races? Spock was a one off, so his medical needs were unique but we saw in Journey to Babel that McCoy knew next to nothing about treating a full Vulcan. Toss in an Andorian, a Tellarite, and who knows who else and you’d need a medical staff making up a very large percentage of the ship just to care for the crew. Sure, in the very next episode we’re introduced to Dr. M’Benga but don’t you think that it would have been a good idea to assign him to the ship before there was a problem? If he’d been on board during JtB, shouldn’t he have been the one performing surgery?
If you’re not human, you’d better hope that McCoy can finagle his way through your health problems.
Speaking as an India Trekkie, I hope Amrit Kaur is not part of this show as I did not like her acting at all. There are tons of Indian actors or even actors of Indian origin in the US, Canada or the UK as well who would do a finer job,
My thought: No.
-An Anonymous Nerd
@36. GarretH: Would definitely be pleased to see more from the Andorians as well – the only reason I focussed on the Tellarites is because the Blues have already had their very own Jeffrey Combs character (which clearly puts them streets ahead in the inherent coolness factor). (-;
@44,
Yeah, I’d love the worldbuilding ENT did with the Andorians picked up (and maybe even integrate some of the DS9 Relaunch’s ideas).
But I definitely agree the Tellarites deserve more on-screen world-building. They’re another of the franchise’s oldest cultures and one of the UFP co-founders. Had ENT not been cancelled, I assume Manny Coto would’ve done more worldbuilding with them.
@44: The writers could always come up with a half-Andorian/half-Tellarite character. Ha!
Check out the Marvel Star Trek: Early Voyages comic from the late 90’s for a good example of a way to balance having most of the cast from The Cage while having greater human/alien diversity. Also did a much much better job of aligning with TOS visual continuity than ahem more recent efforts.
I know I am a little late to this party, but I have been looking around the internet for a place to vent on the subject of Strange New Worlds, and it looks like you are it. Please indulge me.
Make no mistake: I love the promise this new Trek series offers. A year ago, just as Discovery, season 2 was ending, I was so enamored with the idea of a series built around Pike and company, that I sat down and wrote an outline of what I would like it to be, just for my own amusement. That outline follows. First, a few notes about the production:
1. I want the series to be episodic. But, not just because that is how it used to be. The episode format opens the series to the whole spectrum story types: Tense drama one week and light comedy the next. High adventure, fantasy, tragedy, and philosophical debate would all have an opportunity to shine.
2. That said, we cannot just ignore how the television storytelling has evolved over the past 55 years. Serialized elements have become very normal, and some would find it strange not to have them as part of the series.
3. My ideal for this new Star Trek would be to follow the lead of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere. While on the surface, the two might seem to be galaxies apart, they have much in common. I feel strongly that this iteration of the Enterprise would benefit greatly from expanding stories beyond a narrow focus on the activities of the three lead characters and embrace a more expansive lens that recognizes there are interesting individuals and events throughout the ship, at all times. Enterprise = St. Eligius .
4. Titles and theme song: I would like to see the opening credits emulate the end credits from the 2009 movie, albeit somewhat slower and more lyrical. To go with this, I would use a version of the song “Where No Man Has Gone Before” that appeared on Nimoy’s first album.
5. Character / actor proposal:
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Logline: The early voyages of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, with Captain Christopher and company.
Cast of Characters
Captain Christopher Pike – Ship’s captain, played by Anson Mount
Cmdr. Una Dayton / “Number One” – Second in command, played by Rebecca Romijn
Mr. Spock – Science officer, a Vulcan, played by Ethan Peck
Dr. Phillip Boyce, M.D. – Chief Medical Officer (retiring), played by Raymond J. Barry
Dr. Kai Hondo, M.D. – Chief medical officer (arriving), played by Ming-Na Wen
Lt. Cmdr. Lashonda Shay – Chief engineering officer, played by Erica Tazel
Tribune Aquinian – Chief of security, an Andorian-Aenar hybrid, played by Cathy Rigby
Lt. Shannon Ryehill – Comm. officer, played by Lisa Kelly (Celtic Woman; you gotta hear her sing “Beyond Antares”)
Lt. Pablo Navarro – Helmsman, Mexican, played by Diego Boneta
Ensign Melody Layne – Navigator, Australian, played by Angourie Rice
Oooooh, Raymond J. Barry is a superb choice for Boyce!
—Keith R.A. DeCandido
It’s fun to speculate on how we’d cast this particular series. If I were to cast Boyce I could easily see Philip Baker Hall in the role. However, he’ll be 89 this year. Still, if we go with the idea of the character retiring on the series then the age thing works out.
I’m a big fan of the actor Michael Cudlitz formerly of The Walking Dead and Southland. That guy is great in anything including playing gruff characters that have heart so I think it would be amazing if he were cast on the series.
Realistically though, I’m sure a number of the actors that will eventually be cast will be people we’ve never heard of and are newcomers or just about to acting. After all, had anyone ever heard of Garrett Wang or Anthony Montgomery for example, before they were cast on Star Trek? But that’s okay: that just gives me an opportunity to audition as well! Haha.
Originaly we werent smart enough for Star Trek. Today we arent dumb enough. I hope SNW go’s back to the original quality that made it a hit in the first place.
@@@@@ 48, Mr. Seven, an Andorian officer is a great idea! I gather that they and Vulcans have a long history of conflict which could be used to create friction with Spock. They both know that they’re being silly refighting old battles but each is proud of his heritage and so can’t keep themselves from defending it.
Amrit Kaur simply MUST be part of the cast. As for my bit of dream casting: As Dr. Boyce, (hopefully someone who has input is listening), I nominate Peter Capaldi. Just imagine that level of performance, that heft, each week on the Enterprise. We haven’t had a real McCoy since Bones. Capaldi would end that drought.
Capaldi would be too much like Bones, I guess. But I don’t dislike the idea.
@54/MaGnUs: Any Boyce would be too much like Bones, because Bones was just Boyce with the name changed, just as Kirk was just Pike with the name changed, as initially written. It was the actors’ performances who shaped the characters over time.