SD Comic Con PICARD Trailer 2019 vs SD Comic Con DISCOVERY Trailer 2016 – What has CBS learned…?

It’s hard to believe that it was only three years ago that fan got their first glimpse of the new STAR TREK: DISCOVERY at San Diego Comic Con 2016. And when I say got our first glimpse, I don’t mean of the show itself. That wouldn’t happen until the following summer. I mean we got our first look at what a disorganized mess CBS was in dealing with the launch of their first-ever Star Trek TV series that would also be the first-ever Trek series to air only on subscription-based services (All Access, SpaceTV, and Netflix).

Let’s take a moment to compare the two Star Trek series trailers that premiered at San Diego Comic Con to give fans their first look at the new show. The first debuted in July of 2016…

The Discovery trailer was obviously a rush job. The marketing department knew they needed something to show at Comic Con because that has become THE place to premiere the big sci-fi and related genre movies and shows. But there was nothing ready yet! No footage had been shot because, unbelievably, no actors had yet been cast! The sets and uniforms were still being designed.

Remember that, at the time this trailer was first screened for fans, Discovery was still scheduled to debut in January of 2017…just six months after Comic Con. As a comparison, the new STAR TREK: PICARD series is currently set to premiere in January 2020—just six months after Comic Con. So really, no one (especially CBS) should have been surprised when Discovery ended up launching nine months behind schedule.

Still, desperate to show SOMETHING, the show-runners of Discovery decided to render out a quick CGI animation revealing the look of the new starship. Of course, even the ship wasn’t fully designed yet…as you can see from the “rocket” nacelles and the fact that the saucer section was still all one piece. But at least CBS would have something to get the fans excited. (Whether or not it succeeded is still up for debate.)

But what isn’t up for debate is how excited Trekkers have been for the last few days after seeing the extended trailer for Star Trek: Picard that debuted this past Saturday at Comic Con…

What a difference three years makes, huh?

Let’s take a trip down Memory Lane (no relation to me) and look back at the CBS of 2016 versus 2019 and what has changed for Star Trek in that time…

Remember what chaos CBS and Star Trek were in back in 2016? The 50th anniversary came and went with surprisingly (and depressingly) little fanfare…especially considering that a new Trek movie and TV series were both nearly ready to debut. And although it affected Paramount’s bottom line much more than CBS’s when Star Trek Beyond disappointed at the box office, it certainly didn’t give the new Discovery TV series any tailwinds.

Then there was the May 20, 2016 announcement by JJ ABRAMS that the copyright infringement lawsuit against AXANAR was “going away” and that “fans will be able to work on their projects.” That turned out to be incorrect information, and a month later, the new fan film guidelines were announced as the media continued to include mention of CBS suing its fans when reporting the latest Star Trek news.

By August, Discovery had added enough executive producers, producers, consulting producers, and you-name-it producers to field its own baseball team (with a decent pitching bullpen)! Folks like NICHOLAS MEYER and ROD RODDENBERRY seemed to be on the list of generals and colonels mostly for the sake of being able to say they were on the list. But a “TV-show-by-committee” seemed to be taking shape.

By September, it became obvious that the new series was not gonna make the announced January debut date, and the premiere was shifted back five months to May 2017. Show-runner BRYAN FULLER was also beginning to exceed the $6-7 million/episode budget that Netflix had so kindly provided through their licensing deal with CBS. So now it was looking like this expensive series—that still wasn’t even fully cast yet and was waiting for Fuller to finish up with American Gods so he could devote his attention to the job that CBS was paying him to do(!)—was going to cost CBS some major bucks (like $2 million/episode for 13-15 episodes!).

We all know what happened next. Bryan Fuller—the guy who’d come up with the idea for Discovery in the first place and was the only person who’d worked on televised Star Trek previously—was booted by CBS. After some musical chairs played with the 47-or-so remaining producers, GRETCHEN J. BERG and AARON HARBERTS wound up as show-runners (at least for season one).

By January of 2017—when the show had originally been planned to premiere on All Access—filming and production finally got underway! At this point, the premiere had been pushed back further to “the fall.” But at least by San Diego Comic Con in July 2017, CBS was able t0 debut this trailer for fans…

Fans’ reactions were…mixed. Some were stoked while others were filled with dread. And truth to tell, there’s still a huge schism in fandom…even after a full two seasons of Discovery.

But let’s shift to Picard, shall we…?

Before I begin, I should point out that I’ve been hard-pressed to find anyone seriously complaining about this trailer. Tears shed have been those of pure joy. Shouts have been mostly of “HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!!” and the such. By Sunday night, YouTube views were above two million, with 96% thumbs up versus 4% thumbs down. (Seriously…who the heck are you guys? Are you like the fifth dentist who doesn’t recommend sugar-free gum for your patients who chew gum???)

My own complaints were limited to “Oh, so now the Romulans DON’T have bumpy foreheads anymore???” and “Androids shouldn’t be this botoxed!!!” But I kid, I kid. I loved every millisecond and have already frame-by-framed through it about half a dozen times. (I had to see if that guy on the table at 1:45 was really JONATHAN DEL ARCO as a de-borgified Hugh…and yes, apparently he is!)

So what has CBS done right in 2019 that they didn’t in 2016…aside from the obvious answer of “EVERYTHING”?

Well, first of all, let’s look at the infrastructure of the creative minds behind the show. Back in 2016, Discovery was being put together by committee under a leader who was mostly absent trying to finish up work on his other TV series. And almost no one else was what you would call a “die-hard Trekkie” (maybe ALEX KURTZMAN).

Picard, on the other hand, was developed by four people who were very much fans and knowledgeable about Star Trek‘s long and rich history. In addition to Kurztman (a huge fan of Captain Picard and TNG) and fellow Discovery survivor AKIVA GOLDSMAN, Star Trek: Voyager novelist (and Discovery writer) KIRSTEN BEYER and multiple-award-winning novelist MICHAEL CHABON (who begged to come work on Star Trek and wrote the excellent “Calypso” episode of SHORTS TREKS) joined together to develop the 34-page treatment that convinced SIR PATRICK STEWART to return to the Star Trek franchise. In other words, this show had its foundation solidly cemented before anyone else (who wasn’t a die-hard fan) could get their mundane hands on it!

The next difference is the concept itself and how it incorporates into Star Trek‘s rich and expansive history. For better or worse, Discovery‘s show-runners made a conscious decision in the first season to develop their own unique look and feel for everything. That would have been fine were Discovery an alternate universe/new reality or a show that moved forward into the future. But Discovery was a prequel set 10 years before Kirk…where continuity had been firmly established.

So many things were changed (uniforms, technology and ship designs, Klingons, etc.) that many fans were put off…to say the least! And the “little nods” to classic Star Trek—like a tribble on Lorca’s desk, a Gorn skeleton, and Harry Mudd—seemed to almost make matters worse (since we hadn’t encountered the Gorn or tribbles yet—and Lorca’s tribble wasn’t eating all his fortune cookies and spawning thousands of other tribbles—and Harry Mudd was now a sociopathic murderer). Some fans were okay with all of this, but for others, it was sacrilege.

Whether or not Discovery was a good show was (and still is) hotly debated. But one thing that everyone did seem to agree on was that it didn’t “feel” like traditional Star Trek. Again, some fans thought that was a good thing: Star Trek needs to change with the times, reinvent itself and stay relevant. For others, though, it was a bridge and turbolift too far. Some fans refused to watch the show at all and criticized any who did…and the hate-filled posts still fill up Facebook.

In many ways, without intending to, Discovery “broke” fandom.

Picard, in many ways, appears to be doing the opposite. Rather than creating a new “look and feel” and then adding Star Trek elements as needed like decorations to a Christmas tree, Picard seems to be incorporating Star Trek mythos from the bottom up.

For example, the destruction of Romulus from JJ Trek 2009 is now (like it or not) Star Trek canon…and this new series is building on and expanding that aspect of Star Trek‘s “reality.” Picard has had many dealings with the Romulans over the years…including the last time we saw him in Star Trek: Nemesis. How will his complex relationships with this race play out?

Also incorporated into both Picard’s history and Star Trek‘s is the Borg (are the Borg?—singular or plural?). That also seems to be playing a big part in this story.

The Starfleet uniforms, even if we won’t see them often since Picard and his new crew seem to be Star Trek “renegades” (yeah, I went there…this is Fan Film Factor, after all!), seem to fit in with the style of 20 years earlier and don’t depart from what fans are comfortable with. Ironically, unlike the prequel Discovery, the Picard series COULD have radically changed the uniform styles and fans would have been okay. But it just “feels” more like Star Trek because they chose NOT to go in such a different direction with production design. Maybe they’ve learned something?

You know what also feels more like Star Trek? The great outdoors!

I didn’t realize this until I watched the second Discovery trailer again, but did you notice that, with the exception of the walking-on-the-desert-planet scene(s), everything in the2017 Discovery trailer was either inside or in space? And it was all pretty dark (in terms of brightness…as well as thematically).

The Picard trailer, on the other hand is filled with light and the sun and the outdoors…from the Chateau Picard vineyard to Starfleet Headquarters to the iconic Vasquez Rocks (of Vulcan?) and even the natural light coming in from windows in the admiral’s office and Picard’s home.

Star Trek has always included the outdoors and natural light in episodes. Not all the time, of course, but TOS went on location for episodes like “Shore Leave,” “Arena,” “A Private Little War,” and “The Paradise Syndrome” (to name a few). TNG, DS9, Voyager and even Enterprise also left the studio regularly to shoot on location.

Discovery, on the other hand, doesn’t travel much. Part of the reason is that Discovery films in Toronto. And while I personally LOVE that city (cleanest place I’ve ever been to!), the weather doesn’t always cooperate thanks to the influence of the Great Lakes and the longer winters. Don’t get me wrong. Canada’s climate can be lovely at certain times of the year. And if you can get outside, Ontario is one of the prettiest provinces you can imagine. But the window for location shooting without weather hassles is much more limited in Toronto than Los Angeles where the first five Trek series were filmed..

So when the California Film Commission granted the Picard series $15.6 million dollars in tax credits last December, CBS happily took them up on the offer. And our southern California weather is allowing Picard to film more exterior scenes in the bright sunshine…if such scenes are called for.

I also need to mention Sir Patrick himself. He has slid back into his iconic character of Jean-Luc Picard like a comfortable pair of slippers. I recently rewatched the early X-Men movies, and Professor Charles Xavier actually sounds noticeably different than Picard…despite Sir Patrick’s unmistakable deep-voiced British accent. I feels good to hear Picard’s familiar cadences in the trailer. Despite everything new this series is throwing at us, it’s reassuring to know it’s anchored in such an established character whom we all love so deeply.

And finally, BIG kudos to the show’s creators for SHOCKING THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS out the fans (in a good way!) this past weekend. Usually, sci-fi and genre shows leak their secrets like a sieve. The fact that no one seemed to have a clue about BRENT SPINER and JERI RYAN making cameos as Seven of Nine and Botox Data is a testament to how tightly this ship is being run. It just made this weekend’s big reveal all the more special and a moment we fans aren’t soon to forget. And of course, we’ve now also been told that JONATHAN FRAKES (who will be directing multiple episodes) and MARINA SIRTIS will be appearing later in the season as William Riker and Deanna Troi.

Such a difference from 2016!

And the best part is that this series is only one of many Trek projects currently being worked on. Back in 2016, CBS was taking a big chance on Discovery and nixed Bryan Fuller’s original idea of an anthology series covering different time periods of Star Trek history that could lead to (as Fuller called it) “a universe of Trek shows.” They preferred to play it safe and see how one show did first.

Now, CBS is 100% committed to Star Trek. In addition to the ongoing Star Trek: Discovery, six new Short Treks, and the upcoming Picard, there’s also the animated Lower Decks coming next year (or so we are told, the voice-actor cast and characters were just revealed), the still-in-development Section 31, and a new Star Trek show for kids headed to Nickelodeon (not All Access). And that’s not even all of the Trek series that CBS promised to let Alex Kurtzman (who obviously isn’t fired, folks!) develop in a five-year deal they signed last June. Heck, we might still see a Captain Pike series with Anson Mount…if my prayers are ever answered. At least we’ll get more of him, Spock, and Number One on Short Treks (not sure about the tribbles, though)…

All I know is that, for the first time in a long time as a Star Trek fan, I am totally excited. No reservations, no second thoughts. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m still on the fence about whether to stick with Discovery, I’m cautiously optimistic about Lower Decks, and I’m still gonna need convincing on Section 31.

But I am all-in on Picard! Despite creating a fresh new look, they appear to have kept the “feel” of Star Trek. I’m certainly willing to pay to find out (which is more than I can say about season 3 of Discovery). And I’m willing to check out the other newseries, as well. How exciting that, only three years after a bungled rollout of the new CBS-branded Star Trek, we now have the equivalent of a buffet table full of Trek series coming for us to choose from. Watch one, watch two, watch them all…amazing to have a choice after more than a decade of zero choices on TV from 2005-2017.

And anyone out there who’s been saying that the Star Trek franchise is dead, you just go over and sit there in the corner with the 4% who didn’t like the Picard trailer and the fifth dentist who doesn’t recommend Trident sugarless gum!

122 thoughts on “SD Comic Con PICARD Trailer 2019 vs SD Comic Con DISCOVERY Trailer 2016 – What has CBS learned…?”

  1. I certainly loved the trailer, thank you for the great review :).

    In my mind though, this Picard Trailer felt like it was drawing from the first episode of Enterprise, perhaps because of the tremendous levels of light we see and because of the story line, starting out in farm country, random stranger turns up that needs help that sparks a mission out into space, and while granted the Federation already goes boldly into space, the main charachter in this, i.e. Picard doesn’t, at least not any more.

    I would also like to add your description of the woes of Discovery, because Discovery wasn’t just “a prequel set 10 years before Kirk”, but it was also a sequel to Enterprise set about 80 years after the forming of the Federation depicted in These Are The Voyages which meant that Discovery had the problem of existing as the middle child, something which Enterprise did not have to contend with as purely a prequel series.

    1. The “hero’s quest” is a tale as old as time. Starting out in the comfortable and familiar before embarking on a long and perilous journey is something we’ve seen not only in the pilot for “Enterprise” but also in Homer’s “The Odyssey,” Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” Luke’s journey from Tatooine, and a host of other well-known stories.

      And it’s true that Discovery is Star Trek’s first “middle child” (some say DS9 was), but I think the problem was more that the timing was so close to Kirk that Pike was out there and everything was familiar. I think the time frame of the upcoming fan film “Pacific 201” would have been better to explore…being about half-way between Enterprise and TOS. Earth is still traumatized from the Romulan War, and those who remember the horrors don’t want to go back into space because it’s too dangerous and scary out there. But a new generation that never experienced the horror wants desperately to return to the stars. Wouldn’t THAT have been an interesting premise!

      1. True, that close proximity does create issues as well but Axanar seemed to pull it of quite well, at least Prelude did :).

        And for all of DS9 suffering as the middle-child, at least it was the middle-child in the middle, rather than the middle-child at the end. Star Trek, it’s not linear…

        Oh, and yay for Renegades, maybe even going in the direction of Firefly and the browncoats :).

        I hope the video goes up from the con, I would love to see the reactions and the panel :).

        P.S.. Do you know what happened to Renegades, I didn’t realise that they had released the part two, but when I went to watch it they had taken it down without any explanation (whether themselves or vimeo took it down), but whenever I try to watch it on their site I get a “Sorry This video does not exist.” message :(.

          1. Damn, thanks for posting the link youtube video but it’s “unavailable”, probably geolocked :(.

            And as for Renegades part 2, I did sign up for that free account back in early March but as I say the video has been taken down :'( (or perhaps geoblocked, but I guess not for a fan film). I sent a message to atomic at the time (I think it was via their online form). From their website I click on “stream” from the top right of their site and then click on “Watch now”, and I get an embeded Vimeo player pop up displayed with the message “Sorry This video does not exist”. The site has other similar “Watch now” links but they pop up with an embedded youtube player of only part 1 :(.

          3. Thanks Jonathan, I knew your journalistic skills would come in handy here :). I’m a web techie so I can have a keen sense for spotting, diagnosing and solving web problems, I feel like a person aboard on the 1701-D 8-).

          4. Was I the only one who didn’t like Renegades? I didn’t watch it much past Admiral Chekhov talking about being 120 something. Between that and the horrible acting I just couldn’t keep going. Is it worth taking another run at?

          5. Not everyone likes every fan film, Shane. I watch them like I watch school plays…with a lot of patience and understanding that these are fans just doing the best they can. Sometimes it’s surprisingly good. Other times…not so much. If Renegades wasn’t doing it for you, there’s lots more available out that that might suit your tastes. 🙂

      2. Did Pacific 201 ever get made? I missed that one somewhere along the line. I looked up their Kickstarter and watched their video. It looks like an awesome film if they were able to finish it.

  2. If STP is going behind a paywall, I won’t be watching it as I warned back when STD went behind a paywall and was successful enough, future STs and other shows would follow suit. From what I read STP is going behind a paywall, and I don’t care if it’s a CBS paywall, Netflix, Amazon, etc. that’s reason enough to boycott it.

    Do we really want to send CBS, ABC, NBC, and other networks that paywall series are acceptable? No. I sent Cox a message years ago when they kept jacking my cable bill; first I cut back service more than the rate increase everytime they raised my rate. Finally, I said enough is enough and have been cable free for over 4 1/2 years. Apparently, CBS thinks that paywalls are the way to go. That may work for a while, but at some point, it will blow up in their face. STD was such a disaster that I am glad I didn’t waste money on seeing it.

    STP may be a good series, but paywalls are NOT the way to go. We the viewers need to make that clear not only to CBS, but to every major network out there.

    1. Apparently, the revolution will not be televised…except behind a paywall. 🙂

      You might be shaking your fist at the train that’s leaving the station without you, Robert. I don’t think it’s stopping.

    2. Broadcast airwaves have gone the way of the dinosaur. Cable will soon follow. I get more viewing pleasure out of $50-$75 a month in streaming services than I do in $125-$150 in cable bills. Why do you object so vehemently to paying such a small amount to watch something you enjoy? You can always wait till it’s all out subscribe for a month watch the whole series and spend less than you would on a DVD or Blu-ray.

      1. I think the problem will start when the cost of amalgamating all of the subscription services—Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, All Access, Disney+, HBO MAX, whatever NBC and ABC come out with, DC, and everything else—begins to exceed that $50-$75/month you just quoted. We’re at an interesting tipping point for TV. Will cable and satellite go the way of the horse and buggy? I’m not yet convinced. We’ll see!

        1. Actually, CBS, NBC, and ABC are so far behind that it’s not worth my $$ to invest in their streaming for a different reason: I’m not going to subscribe to a streaming channel for just one show, even if it is Trek. Netflix has some great shows that I like to watch, and many I don’t. But that’s OK, as there is enough variety to whet my appetite and make me willing to subscribe, especially as they don’t have commercials to boot. So, no, I’m not going to subscribe to PatrickStewartTrek and watch every episode the minute they come out. if I’m forced to watch (by Spousal Unit), I’ll buy for a month after they’re all out, binge watch, and then cancel like I did with HBO for GOT. I don’t think this is going to save CBS.

          2. I think you’re right that this won’t save the networks. Until they have more streaming content that you can’t watch on TV their streaming services will never be able to compete. Star Trek alone isn’t enough. I’ll subscribe to watch Picard but only for that.

  3. “I’m certainly willing to pay to find out”. In spite of my ongoing antipathy to CBS/P for their handling of Axanar and that I don’t have a smart TV for easy streaming (along with giving a lot to corporations from personal data being sent back), this show excited and has tempted me to the point that I’m seriously willing to consider coughing up a few dollars. And I’m more than willing to use the 7 day free trial to watch the first episode.

    Sir Patrick’s voice clearly reflects his almost 80 year’s age so I hope they honor that as well. We need shows reflecting age especially since I’m 74!

  4. YOU, get it.
    You hit those nails drop-dead, square on their heads.
    If the ’09 movie trilogy had the team running them that Picard has, no one would have complained about them because they would have felt and sounded like Trek.

    In its defense, I believe that Disco made some large steps toward being what it should have started out as. Season 2 was a significant improvement over Season 1.

    2. A good solid dump is a significant improvement over diarrhea but it’s all still shit.

      1. Season two wasn’t that bad, Shane…until the finale. I really did enjoy watching Anson Mount as Pike, and once we got past the Mushroom May stories, the Talos IV stuff was really quite watchable…or at least I thought so. You mileage might have varied.

  5. There’s one other difference – the lead. An actor with such standing that doing this project is a work of heart for him, not something that he needs to do to pay his bills. From theater to the movies, he’d easily find other projects to do. But he’s willing to slip once more into the role that made him internationally famous – probably because he believes he can tell us something that way that’s worth telling.

    Given the title of the series, it stands and falls with Sir Patrick Stewart, which gives me hope both on the organizational level and the writing, because I doubt he’d be willing to stand for bungling on either level.

    1. Good points. I think one of the big problems Discovery had going in is that the lead, while a talented actress, wasn’t given much to work with. Burnham always felt flat in so many ways, and while I don’t think that was entirely Sonequa’s fault, she didn’t give the writers much to work with either, and so they didn’t give her much to work with. It was a vicious cycle.

      When John de Lancie played Q, he gave the writers so much to work with that they knew exactly how to write the character–his smug attitude, his arrogant voice, his playful-but-ambiguous malevolence–not as a generic super being but as John de Lancie playing that super being.

      Stewart defined Picard, not vice-versa. Sonequa Martin-Green never defined Michael Burnham, and so she remained and still remains one of the least interesting characters on that show. Compare her to any of the others–Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Pike, Reno–all of those actors were able to take their characters someplace the writers couldn’t by themselves. On the other hand, look at Ash Tyler. Little depth there either.

      Sir Patrick, though…deep as the Marianas Trench! 🙂

      1. I’m sorry, I can’t agree with this, especially with the work she did in Season 2. Just the scene alone where she finds out her mom is alive is some awesome work!

        1. Too little, too late, I say. If you have to go 25 episodes in to find a character defining moment for the lead actor, then something might be wrong. 🙂

      2. If Stewart quits the show, the show basically ends right there. Plus, Stewart would be in no danger of ending his career if he walked out in a huff (and even if he did, it would be no existential threat to him). With “Discovery”, they could switch to someone else as a main character if need be and go on with it.

        I mean, Stewart is almost 80. The greatest worry I have about this show is that the Grim Reaper will cut it short… For him, this is likely a bit of coming full circle, return to the beginning once more. It may well be a kind of capstone of his work.

        One a lighter note, I just imagined him talking to Frakes, Spiner and all “You know, I’ve just signed on for a new project.” “And? What is it?” “We’re putting the band back together!”

        1. Well, Frakes will be directing a couple of episodes, y’know…just like old times! 🙂

          As for Picard quitting in a huff, that’s unlikely. At 80, few actors get this chance to play King Leer. And yet, to really play Leer, an actor needs to draw on that nearness to the end of life and the onset of dementia, loss of strength and faculties, and the knowledge that one’s greatest days are long past but wishing there was just one more thing to strive for.

          For a Shakespearean actor like Stewart, capping his career with this unique and ultimately tragic role would seem to be a great gift. That’s probably why he agreed to come back to play Picard, a role he said he was walking away from in 2002 because he had explored everything there was to explore about this character. Apparently, there’s still aspects of Picard to discover in the twilight of his life.

  6. I was one of the Holy Crap section of viewers. In fact, one could say that I almost assimilated myself when Seven showed up along with Hugh the Borg and Data/Lore/B4. There has been a myriad of speculation as to who the girl is and her importance. The Lal theory is nice to think about but I’m leaning toward a de-borged queen scenario. Either way, I’m liking it.

  7. What did CBS learn? 1) Don’t hire a showrunner who doesn’t have tie to run the show. 2) Their franchise needs a Kevin Feige, and that man is Alex Kurtzman.

  8. Thanks Jonathan, very interesting to read. Some peripheral comments.

    I am unable to understand why the video trailers you included were blocked here in Australia. Whoever heard of blocking adverts, which is what trailers are, at the source (sure, I block ads on my computer)? I don’t use subscription services, the costs aren’t warranted for my viewing habits, but blocking the trailers is certainly no encouragement for me to start exploring any subscriptions (I guess these shows are available through Netflix or such here, or will become so).

    I can’t help but wonder if the sudden proliferation of forthcoming Star Trek shows is such a good idea, tantalizing though it may sound. The phrase, “Too much of a good thing” has a sound basis particularly as success of TV shows depends on a wider general market than just us nutty fans (equals ‘fan-atics’).

    As to Vancouver being impractical for outdoor scenes. The very successful and long-running Stargate franchise, shot in Toronto, had a great deal of outdoor work. Certainly the winters are milder in Toronto, but it simply replaces Vancouver’s snow with rain ─ the amount of annual sunshine in Toronto is only slightly greater than Vancouver’s. (OK, so I’m going by statistics rather than practical experience.)

    I said these comments were peripheral. However, an excellent post!

    1. I think the reason for the geolock is that the trailers in America say “All Access” and you’ll be getting it on a different service. Just Google “Picard Trailer” and I’m sure there’s a bootleg somewhere.

      As for Toronto, it’s not that you can’t go and film outdoors there. It’s simply that the window is shorter and weather not as reliable. I used to live in upstate New York (just across Lake Ontario from Toronto), and we used to say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” In Los Angeles, we say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five months.” 🙂

    2. Pretty sure Stargate was shot in Vancouver, hence all the evergreens and ferns that seemed to be on every planet in the galaxy…..

      2. Thanks HubcapDave, somehow a geographic/mental slip on my part ─ Stargate was shot in Vancouver. Don’t know how I managed to come up with that slip. I looked it up with a half-asleep mind (it was very early in the morning when I wrote that) and then traveled within Canada and relocated the show. Sorry for the mis-information and again, thanks for the correction.

          1. Don’t piss off Canada they’ll sick their legions of Moose, Beavers and Geese on you. They’ll apologize for doing it but they’ll do it.

  9. Jonathan – I fully agree with you on Star Trek: Picard (STP) (Do you remember the product STP? with the tag line: “It’s the racer’s edge”?) Can’t wait to see the series! The trailer was exciting, new, but yet familiar. It was also cool to see the Anaheim Convention Center as one of the outside exterior scenes for Starfleet Headquarters.

    1. Y’know, since STD is being discouraged in favor of DSC, maybe Picard shouldn’t be STP. How about PIC or PRD or PCD?

      As for the Anaheim Convention, WonderCon will never be the same again! Come for the admirals, stay for the authors! 🙂

  10. OK, I am that 5th dentist. I watched the Picard trailer and was underwhelmed. As I watched it, I felt I was watching an old broken warrior looking for that last fix of the old days.

    Is it a better trailer than Discovery’s? A 1000 times better. I feel at least there is something there (even if it didn’t touch me). You get the feel at least that they are trying to respect continuity and cannon.

    Will I give it a shot? Yep. I already feel like the writting will be much better. (They had better explain how Seven knows Jean-Luc, early on.)

    1. 20 years have gone by since Voyager returned to the Earth. That’s a LOT of time for Seven and Picard to get to know each other. Also, it’s possible she’s just an hallucination. 🙂

      As for watching an old, broken warrior…well, d’uh. This is “King Leer in Space,” dude…and Shakespeare was no slouch!

    2. Both being Borg survivors it’s not it’s perfectly reasonable that they would have gotten to know each other over the years.

        1. Assimilated Anonymous? I didn’t think Picard was part of Unimatrix Zero ;).

          But yeah, of course they would have talked, even in Star Trek Nemesis Picard seemed on good terms with Janeway, and before that Barcley brought Troi into his Voyager obsession.

          I imagine it would have been Seven reaching out to Picard as someone who would understand what she has gone through, wanting someone who understands her, rather than Picard who probably would have felt hesitant to get reminded of his time as Locutus.

          1. Or, as you said, it might have simply been that they both knew Janeway. “Oh, Jean-Luc, it’s good to see you again. This is Seven-of-Nine. She used to be a Borg, too. Seven, you should talk to the captain, swap some old stories. You have so much in common. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think they’ve just refreshed the coffee pot over there.”

  11. After the shit show that was STD I was very worried when they announced Picard was coming back. The last time I was this excited for Star Trek was when I saw Prelude To Axanar. Before that it was 2009 and then Enterprise. I’ve watched the Comic Con panel and some interviews and I can’t wait to see how this goes. I just wish they were releasing it all at once Netflix style. I can’t wait to see how Seven (or perhaps she goes by Annika now) has developed as a character. And going all the way back to Hugh and reincorporating him was brilliant. I can’t wait to see if Data is physically back somehow or if he’s a hologram or what. Speaking of Data I don’t know why his face is so puffy because Brent Spiner doesn’t look like that.

    If you’re not excited about Picard then you should just piss off back to whatever hate filled place you came from.

    1. My money is on the theory that Data is an hallucination. Remember that, at this point in his life (according to the episode “All Good Things”), Picard should be starting to lose his marbles. 🙂

      As for Data, well, Brent Spiner isn’t exactly a spring chicken anymore. Data doesn’t age, but Brent…?

    2. The face is likely so puffy because they needed to put on much more stuff than they used to. If I remember correctly, one of the reasons Spiner wanted to leave the role behind was that he had trouble portraying a non-aging android. They might have opted to use prosthetics instead of just make-up. That would allow them to have a smooth surface, but at the cost of thickness and facial expression – which would fit what we see here…

      1. I’m decided to live with it. Aside from the obvious “Botox Data” jibe, I understand that no actor except Tom Cruise manages to look the same forever. And he has a painting in his attic and a crack team of scientology plastic surgeons locked in his basement. Just being able to see and hear Brent Spiner as Data one more time 17 years later was enough to make me a happy Trekker. 🙂

      2. They don’t necessarily need makeup or prosthetics, it’s possible to achieve whatever results desired with computer software. I know no technical details.

        1. It’s called DeepFake software, and it’s still evolving. Young Princess Leia in “Rouge One” still fell into the uncanny valley and looked a little eerie. It’ll get there eventually, but it’s not quite there yet (although the recent “Captain Marvel” did an amazing job with Samuel L. Jackson!).

  12. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m in no way excited about lower decks, section 31 or the next season of STD. Section 31 never should have been created to begin with. I can’t see a Star Trek cartoon on Nickelodeon done by the Rick and Morty people having any of the things that make Star Trek great. That show and shows like it are nothing but fart jokes and ridiculousness. They have their place but it’s not Star Trek. And I can’t imagine STD season 3 being any better than the rest of the garbage.

    1. I share your hesitations, Shane, but I’ve decided to keep an open mind about everything except Discovery. I fully expect season 3 to suck. That said, I might keep my subscription going a month after Picard ends to appease my morbid curiosity and get a blog or two out of them. 🙂

  13. One thing CBS apparently haven’t learned is the value of viral marketing, as clicking on your link to the Shorts trailer gave me this message:

    Video unavailable
    This video contains content from CBS CID, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.

    For the Picard show, I’m definately intrigued, bordering excited. My only slight concern was the amount of “pew-pew-pew”, the mysetrious character-with-a-destiny, and hints of a conspiracy at the heart of the Federation/starfleet, which seemed a bit generic to me. I don’t mind the odd galactic conflict, but I hope the show won’t be defined by space battles and martial arts punch ups, nor by deep state conspiarcies and mad evil admirals (or, please Great Bird, not Section 31 again…). I’m all for dramatic conflict, but I’d like to see less reaching for a phaser to solve them. Let’s have something hopeful to lift our spirits in these troubled times!

    1. Considering Patrick Stewart’s advanced age, I suspect at least one of the characters won’t be doing many martial arts punch up scenes. 🙂

      As for the Short Treks trailer, try reloading this blog page and giving it another go. I just updated the blog with a new link directly from the CBS promotional YouTube channel.

      1. Afraid I’m still having problems, just of a different flavour.

        Video unavailable
        The uploader has not made this video available in your country.

        No Short Trek trailers for Germany! Maybe CBS are worried about treading on Netflix’s toes in promoting the show outside North America?
        BTW, whilst I’m here, just want to say I love the blog, keep it up!

  14. I was more disappointed in the fact that I didn’t like it than anything else. I really wanted to like it. I enjoyed the idea behind it and that it had so many Trek celebs.

  15. I liked Anson Mount’s Pike. I would watch a series on his Enterprise with his Number 1 and younger Spock. But there’s too much crap on STD for even him to overcome.

  16. I’m sure I’ll watch at least the first episode. If it was an animated series by someone like Bruce Timm I’d be excited. But Star Trek isn’t the place for Rick and Morty or South Park or anything like that. I enjoy those shows and the messages we sometimes get from them but it’s going to take a lot to make them Star Trek. I’d rather see someone you doing an animated series like the 70s cartoon once again then some weird skinny body giant head off the wall things that they call a person like in Rick and Morty. I want the characters to have humanistic realism and not just be a big joke.

    1. Maybe they’ll surprise you. Just because someone plays only one instrument doesn’t mean they play only one song. (Man, that sounds so wise! I just made it up…really!) 🙂

      1. Hey, is there a copyright on that? – I may use it. OK, this is a waste of space, but Shane is getting too much air-play :).

          1. When I decide I love something I’m all in 1000%. I’m extremely passionate. More than once to my detriment.

          2. CBS broke fandom themselves when they sued their own fans. Just imagine if the embraced fans with the same attitude as LucasFilm did with Star Wars fan productions. The missed a golden opportunity to issue a sane set of guidelines and encourage the community.

          3. Actually, I don’t think all of the guidelines were insane, but a few of them were definitely too Draconian…like the 15-minute limit (would 20 or 25 have been so wrong?), no continuing series, and the “no professionals” rule.

  17. I’m with you on Section 31 Alan. I hate the very idea of that organization.

    1. Yeah, I’m worried about that one, too. And it seems to be getting the least attention right now. Potential problems? Let’s ask Midnight’s Edge! 😉

  18. Anonymous assimilated, LMFAO.

    And I just about lost it at that coffee pot comment.

    1. To think I gave up a thriving career in stand-up comedy to write a blog!

      No, I didn’t. (Although I have done stand-up a few times, believe it or not.)

  19. Hi Jonathan,

    It’s your site, your blogs and all that but, if I were you, I’d work in a plug for your Gofundme Interlude campaign into all your blogs. Anything CBS/Discovery/Picard related seems to attract loads of comments and I can only presume that’s as a result of more traffic.

    Assuming there’s no reason I can’t do it, anyone still reading this, go checkout: https://www.gofundme.com/f/interlude ….and be excited.

    As to the Picard trailer, yes, very cool. I have to say I assumed the Data clip was a result a hefty portion of anti-ageing CGI, but hefty amounts of make-up may well be the cheaper option! As long as he keeps his emotion chip turned off and, on no accounts, tries smiling I’m sure it’ll be fine… 🙂

    1. While I try to plug Interlude everywhere I can, I don’t think it’s appropriate to insert it into every blog I publish right now. This was a time to let Picard shine (and Discovery…not so much). There’ll be ample chance to push Interlude over the coming weeks. Trust me. 🙂

  20. They made Jackson younger in Captain Marvel! I thought it was just the hair.

  22. If wars were fought with hockey sticks I would welcome our new Canadian overlords. Just don’t forget Miracle on Ice.

    1. Personally, I’m a big curling fan. Ah, to be on the sheet at a bonspiel with the hammer in the last end and to throw an out-turn with draw weight across the hack line, around a guard, and into the house, hitting a biter and laying shot on the button…nothing could be finer, eh? 🙂

  23. Even though I was not a fan of TNG(I was a fan of TOS)I do wish Star Trek – Picard success. I just hope that this is not a sign of Star Trek going into a second phase of franchise fatigue. But knowing the mentality of film studio executives, I would not surprised, since they only care about the profit instead of the art.

    Another sign that Star Trek has run its course.

    As to why the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek was not all that big, the reason is obvious. Alec Peters and Axanar. Plus the out of control fan politics caused by him, Farragut Films, Starbase Studios, Vic Mignogna, and various other sources. Including that of Bonnie Malmat, David Gerrold, Dennis Bailey, and the rest of the Trek BBS, Trek today, and other fan BBs.

    If there were a Nuremberg-like war crimes tribune real on those issues, CBS-Paramount would be the judges and the aforementioned guilty party would be the war criminals accused.

    1. Wait, you think the reason CBS and Paramount muffed the 50th anniversary was because of a few dozen fan filmmakers and a few hundred (maybe a thousand at most) fans bitching about Star Trek online? REALLY???

      Pap, I don’t usually recommend psychological counseling to people I don’t know, but in this case, I feel it’s irresponsible on my part not to at least suggest it to you.

      1. Really.

        Jonathan, those people I mentioned and their toxic, Nazi-like behavior certainly DID NOT help matters much. Let alone help Star Trek fandom in general.

        And maybe that is another reason why you were turned down from filming your project at Neutral Zone Studios. Your association-friendship with Alec Peters.

        With all the harm he has done to Star Trek fandom, I certainly would not want him as a friend. Being equated with him, or even those others that I mentioned, would certainly do more harm to your reputation than anything else.

        Since you are not a licensed therapist, it is irresponsible on your part to recommend such a suggestion.

        1. Papillon, when you compare Star Trek fans to Nazis, do you mean they are killing millions of Jews or simply trying to take over Europe and eventually the world? Are these Trekkies you speak of conducting genetic experiments, rounding Jews up onto boxcars and taking them into concentration camps, or simply herding Jews into ghettos, stealing their property, forcing them to wear pink Stars of David on their clothes in public, spitting on them, beating them senseless in the streets, and tattooing numbers on their wrists?

          If you could please clarify exactly what you mean by “Nazi-like behavior,” then perhaps I’ll allow you to post here again. Until that point, sir, consider your comments permanently banned from this blog site.

          1. By allowing his poisonous comments (admittedly his statements are on the milder fringe of that small but divisive group of Axanar-haters) in the first place you have shown a generous tolerance. But it’s better you stay with good, positive supporters like Shane and I (! 🙂 ). So, good move.

            [I did know the correct grammar, but it sounds very ‘formally British’. I wondered if it was acceptable to get away with the more ‘relaxed’ erroneous approach ─ seen rather frequently.]

          2. Well, I tend to be a bit of a grammar-Nazi. And by that, I don’t mean that I force improper pronouns to live inside of ghettos. But I have been known to give people dirty looks when they say “presently” when they really mean “currently.” And I do think nasty things when I hear someone say “I could care less” when we all know it’s supposed to be “I couldn’t care less.” 🙂

          3. Sorry, I’m sure you want this to end, but (hmm, that word has received a comment somewhere!) just wanted to add I’m also a bit of a grammar stickler, my greatest sin is split infinitives (acceptable to a degree, but best avoided). I replied as although I detest “I could care less,” I take the it to imply, “I could care less, but I can’t imagine under what circumstances.”
            That’s it ─ nothing more from me on this blog, I promise.

  24. Jonathan, I read somewhere that CBS was exploring the possibility of more than just Picard. You may know if there was any substance in this. If so, with the amount of Star Trek around, there could arise a situation of too much of a good thing perhaps. (?)

    1. CBS’s plan, at least for now, is to have “one Star Trek per week.” With Discovery only 13 episodes per season, that leaves another 39 weeks of the year without Star Trek. Picard will fill up 10 of those weeks for at least three seasons. That leaves two more slots, one likely going to Lower Decks and the other to Section 31. In a few more seasons when Discovery is done and/or Picard is done, then expect another Trek series or two.

      Too much of a good thing? More like a buffet where you might not like everything there, but at least you won’t go hungry. 🙂

      1. Y’know, sometimes I can be quite thick (do I hear, “Only sometimes?”). Of course Lower Decks and Section 31 have been mentioned more than once in this particularly epic assemblage. Along with that, somehow I had been confusing Section 31 with the Area 31 of some years ago (and had been wondering how it got into a Star Trek discussion!). My defence is I’m always awake VERY early and catch up on all my email while still in bed so not always fully awake. And regards to Shane ─ Shane, do you ever sleep? 🙂

        1. No, I don’t think Shane sleeps. Neither do I! It’s frickin’ 3am! But I’m working on a blog about Orville moving to Hulu and, well, the universe of streaming services is a friggin’ rabbit hole!!! Expect a VERY long blog soon. 🙂

      2. PS ─ the final query to Shane was meant warmly; he seems a regular (frequent) sort of family member ─ in pleasant contrast to the negative comments that appear.

          1. To Johnathan and Bryan.

            No I don’t sleep.

            At least not normal hours. I’m a major night owl. Very seldom will you see anything from me between 5:00 & 10:00 am. That’s when I sleep.

            I appreciate the compliments. I really do. Saturday was a shitty day for me due to family shit I won’t get into. So to see such nice things in email really brightened my day. Thank you

  25. As far as the professional actors rule is concerned. Who the hell are they to decide who’s a professional. And personally I don’t think they have a legal leg to stand on if a former Star Trek actor wanted to be in a fan film. They have no right telling them what they can and can’t act in. And they have no right to tell a film maker who they can and can’t hire. I wish someone with money and clout would take CBS to court over their ridiculous fan film rules. As long as you aren’t making a profit it should all be under fair use. Maybe with the new merger we’ll get someone with a brain in charge.

    1. How does one take CBS to court over posting rules? Star Trek is their property. I can have whatever rules I want to in my house as long as they don’t require anyone to break any laws.

      Of course, you could argue (as I have) that guideline #5 violates California Labor Code 16600. But the problem is that there is no contract between fan films and CBS, so there is nothing for the courts to invalidate. CBS will never sue a fan film for hiring Gates McFadden or Robert Beltran. They will sue for copyright infringement. And the defense of “We were allowed to hire Star Trek veteran actors under California Labor Code 16600” will just get a “Huh?” from the judge. You aren’t being accused of hiring someone. You’re being accused of infringement of copyright.

      You’re welcome to have your legal fantasies, Shane, but when you actually write them down in a post, expect me to toss a big, wet bucket of reality on them. 🙂

      1. At the risk of arousing your ire (frustration) by narrowing in on Shane’s query: given that Star Trek is CBS’ property so they can ‘do what they like’, they have already given a freedom in that Star Trek themed short-subject films can be made as defined. But if an ex Star Trek actor, non-current in any commercial Star Trek product, appears in an otherwise legitimate 15 minute fan film playing a character that is unique to that fan film or fan films in general, where is the breach of copyright? CBS don’t own this character and the fan film is otherwise legit.
        [By the way, it’s just after 3 am so I’ve had a generous three hours sleep tonight. And I’m not even sure Orville is available here, so I won’t be adding to this new endevour, although I’ll certainly read the initial blog ─ naturally 🙂 ]

        1. It’s not a breach of copyright (there is such a thing as breach of contact, Bryan, but there’s no contract between a fan film and CBS). You might be thinking of infringement of copyright, in which case, as soon as a fan film says Starfleet, Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, Andorian, shows someone in a familiar tunic or uniform, shows Captain Kirk or mentions William Riker or any of dozens or hundreds of things they could do to make a typical person say, “Hmmmmm, are they trying to do some kind of Star Trek thing?”…it’s potentially infringement. They don’t need to hire Jeri Ryan to play Seven-of-Nine. They can simply show a Borg, call it a Borg, and—BAM—they’ve used CBS’s IP without permission.

          1. Thanks Jonathan, I did mean infringement (again pleading only half-awake ─ did well last night, got just over 3 hours!). So when Star Trek Fan Films use Star Trek-like uniforms and or etc, they are being discreetly permitted to do so by the largess of CBS . But such largess does not extend to known Star Trek actors appearing in Star Trek-themed fan films. OK, I must accept that, sadly; but remain sympathetic to the feeling behind many of Shane’s views.

            I think it’s mainly me and Shane (Shane and I?) keeping this blog going.

  26. I get that they’re fantasies but I still think there is a legal way to claim fair use as long as you’re not making a profit. They chose to go after fan films because fan films all of a sudden started doing professional level work. They don’t go after anybody who does artwork or written fiction or any other kind of fan project that should by their standards infringe upon their copyright as much as a fan film. They went after fan films because they were coming out with their own thing and didn’t want competition. They were perfectly fine with fan films and ongoing series and all kinds of other stuff keeping Star Trek alive on YouTube for the better part of ten years right up until they started wanting to release STD. People can offer any kind of argument against me that they like but you will never change my opinion on this. As far as I’m concerned it is fact it is written in stone it is inscribed upon the stars of the universe to be there until the the whole damn thing burns away. Like I said before my only hope is that with the new Viacom merger will get someone in charge of Star Trek who actually appreciates the fans and gets rid of these stupid ass fucking rules or at least the worst of them.

    1. Here’s the thing about fair use, Shane: it doesn’t protect most fan films. And believe me, I’ve now studied fair use enough to write a book on it! Fair use is determined by four elements:

      1) Is the original work worthy of copyright? Yes. Star Trek is a unique and creative work and worthy of the copyright CBS has on it.
      2) How are you using the potentially infringing work? Sure, if your fan film doesn’t make any money, hooray for you, but this isn’t simply about commercial versus non-commercial. If you’re using the original work for some kind of educational or critical analysis, that’s fine. If all you’re trying to do, however, is entertain a bunch of Trekkies online, then you’re not gonna get a fair use ruling on this second element.
      3) How much of the original work are you actually using? This was the area where Axanar had a fighting chance of proving fair use, but it would NOT have worked for Star Trek Continues or New Voyages or many others. Axanar claimed to be transformative, not derivative. Star Trek had never been done as a mockumentary before. Moreover, the era of 10-20 before Kirk had not ever been explored in terms of the Four Years War with the Klingons (this was pre-Discovery). Alec felt that only a minimal amount of Star Trek IP had been used to make Prelude and the Vulcan Scene. STC and NV went way farther, recreating the original sets and costumes and even all of the main characters. Prelude had only two previously-used Trek characters. Would Axanar and Alec have won the case if allowed to argue fair use? We’ll never know for sure, and it would certainly have depended upon the jury. But one thing is certain: the majority of Star Trek fan films are NOT transformative and therefore would like NOT win on this third aspect of fair use.
      4) What is the potential financial harm to the copyright holder? Here, it’s arguable that a small fan film won’t hurt CBS in the wallet, but it doesn’t take much! What’s to stop a licensee who is paying $50,000/year from saying, “Hey, if what THEY’RE doing is fair use, then why don’t WE do the same thing?” Then it’s not just lost licensing revenue that’s a potential financial harm, it’s also the cost of suing more people because licensees are suddenly thinking it’s okay NOT to have a license.

      In other words, Shane, keep dreaming. Fan films are unlikely to win on fair use in the future, and Axanar only had a fighting chance three years ago. And the guidelines make the argument even more tenuous now as CBS is quite clearly delineating the limits of what they consider allowable.

      As for CBS permitting most fan films to exist unchallenged, they don’t have to enforce their copyright aggressively in order to retain it. You’re confusing copyright with trademark, which does have a “protect it or lose it” aspect.

      Okay, class dismissed.

      1. Thanks Jonathan that’s good information to know. I still think CBS is full of shit and picking and choosing who to go after. Like I said they don’t mess with artists or writers just filmmakers and that’s a bunch of bullshit. That’s why I despise them. If there wasn’t such a big crackdown on torrenting videos I wouldn’t give them a single red cent. But I’m looking forward to seeing Picard so I guess I’m going to have to shell out a little cash. if it was anything but Star Trek I’d probably wait until the whole thing was done and then just pay for a month and cancel it again but I don’t want to be 2 months behind everybody by the time the show is finished.

  28. Funny how I’m keeping this blog alive by only commenting on maybe 3 out of every 5-7 blogs. Johnathan whatever will you do without me.

  29. Full Disclosure I hate STD not just because it was not Star Trek but because it was so Bad on almost every level with to be fair some isolated but bright spots.

    This is why I am so worried about STP it has the same heritage as STD especially with Alex Kurtzman’s influence. The rumours coming out of production which seem more than credible such as the disinterest by the Merchandiser’s and obviously the disinterest by NetFlix in picking up the series, plus of course Kurtzman failing upwards.

    What adds even more credibility is that the airing date has now been put back presumably to allow for reshoots an expensive process.

    So my reading of this is that they went ahead with another woke production which very few fans were interested in probably had Picard being belittled and given permission to take action rather the same as Captain Pike was in STD. CBS has finally woken up to the damage being done to the IP probably because Kurtzman was going wildly over budget yet again.

    So now they are frantically backpedalling and hitting the nostalgia button for all it is worth even though they will almost all be Cameo’s and not central to the story.

    Will this work? it has to otherwise Star Trek will have to go away for many years till the STD debacle is forgotten. Section 31 is Vapourware if you look up MY on DB she is solidly booked for the next few years and although a Captain Pike Series would be great it would be a remake of TOS and unlikely to be greenlit in the current climate.

    I can only hope that the damage done can be repaired and it is the runaway success that ST needs.

    1. I haven’t heard anything about reshoots, Glenn, but they are pretty standard in Hollywood and not always that expensive. I suspect that the intention to launch STP in January was always baked into the pie and is most likely due to post-production issues…probably VFX. CBS wants STP to launch in January anyway. That means it’ll be able to comfortably slide into the spot previously occupied by Thursday Night Football just as the NFL season ends. That’s why Discovery’s time slot was Thursdays at 8:30pm Eastern Time (Thursday Night Football started at 8:20pm). The idea was that NFL fans would continue their Thursday night viewing behavior, swapping Discovery for football, and not cancel their All Access subscription. (Don’t ask me how I know that.) 🙂

      As for Kurtzman, rumors of his firing and demise appear to not only have been greatly exaggerated but most likely complete and total poppycock. Fans’ reactions to the Picard trailer and general enthusiasm for the new series can’t be understated. It’s nearly the opposite of what happened with Discovery. Whether STP can live up to the hype will be answered this winter. And whether this presents a turning-of-the-corner for Star Trek or just an exception that proves the rule is also still to be seen. I’m simply pointing out that 2019 shows a significant improvement over 2016 in terms of how Star Trek is being treated by CBS and received by the fans.

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