Tweet This Page

Review of "Star Trek: Discovery" 9/26/17 by Suzanne
airs Sundays on CBS All Access

I'm a long-time Star Trek fan. I have three older brothers, and we all watched the original series back in the 1960's, along with my mom. I watched it for years in the 70's in re-runs, and I went to Star Trek clubs and conventions. I've watched and recorded all of the series, and I've bought most of them in DVD form as well.

I'm not one of those people who cares that much about changes they make from each series to the next. Each TV show is, to a certain extent, the creation of the people who run that particular show, regardless of what source material is used. Gene Roddenberry is long dead, and the others who worked on his shows have moved on to other series.

I really only care if the show is fun to watch or not.  This new show definitely fits the bill. It's got good characters and plenty of action.  A lot of Star Trek fans will probably be nitpicking about the series (just like they have with every new Star Trek TV show or movie). I've been reading a lot about the series on Facebook, and so far it seems that many people have trouble with the way the Klingons look and act. It doesn't bother me.

I watched the first two episodes. So far it's really good. The only thing I didn't like is that the main character, a woman raised by Vulcans, broke down crying at one point. To me, that's very sexist. Not all women cry, and professional women are even less likely to cry on the job.  You never saw Janeway or any of the other lead characters crying.  Kirk barely shed a tear when Spock died in "Star Trek II"!  To paraphrase "A League of Their Own,"  "There's no crying in Star Trek!"  Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration. Still, I felt disgusted by that part.

The only other thing I don't like is the initials for the show: STD. Surely they could have come up with something a little better? No one figured that out before it went public?

Many fans are upset by the fact that CBS is only showing the first episode on TV. You have to join CBS All Access to see the rest of the series.  Well, it's only $6 to join, so I would say that it's worth it.  They have a lot of other shows on there besides Star Trek that you can watch.  "The Good Fight" is the only other original show, for now. This is no different than when Netflix started making their own original series.  Before that, you may recall, they were a mail-DVD's-to-you-door service, long before they became a streaming service.

Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham, a young Starfleet officer. She's second-in-command to Captain Georgiou of the exploring ship Shenzou.  They have a great friendship, but things go awry in the first episode when Michael discovers a Klingon.  The show takes place after "Enterprise" but before the original series. Of course, visually, they can't really make it believable to look like it was before the original series ("Enterprise" really didn't, either) because that show was made a long time ago and had terrible special effects.

The Klingons have not been seen in a long time, and they're not supposed to be in Federation space.  Burnham tries to stop a war with them, but nothing goes right.  In the second episode, things get even worse, and the episode ends with her being sentenced to prison. 

The show will be about the starship Discovery and its captain will be Jason Isaacs, but we haven't seen them yet. It'll be interesting to see how that happens. I can't wait!

MORE INFORMATION:

“Star Trek,” one of the most iconic and influential global television franchises, returns to television 50 years after it first premiered with STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. The series will feature a new ship, new characters, and new missions, while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.

The series will launch on CBS All Access on Sun. Sept. 24 following the broadcast premiere on the CBS Television Network that night. After premiere night, all new episodes will be available on-demand weekly on Sundays exclusively for CBS All Access subscribers in the U.S. The 15-episode season will be released in two chapters. The first eight episodes will run from Sunday, Sept. 24 through Sunday, Nov. 5. The season will then resume with the second chapter in January 2018.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, Bryan Fuller’s Living Dead Guy Productions and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller, Heather Kadin, Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers. The series will be distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada on Bell Media’s Space channel and OTT service CraveTV.

CBS All Access is the CBS Television Network’s digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service. In addition to its original series, which also includes season one of the new edition of “The Good Wife,” THE GOOD FIGHT, CBS All Access gives CBS fans the ability to watch more than 9,000 episodes on demand – spanning current shows from primetime, daytime and late night, as well as past seasons of select series and classic TV hits. CBS All Access is currently available online at CBS.com, on mobile devices via the CBS App for iOS, Android and Windows 10, and on Roku Players, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Fire TV.

PREMIERES: Sunday, Sept. 24 8:30 ET/7:30 CT

FORMAT: Drama/Sci-Fi (Filmed in HD)

CURRENTLY ANNOUNCED CAST AND GUEST CAST INCLUDE:

Sonequa Martin-Green (First Officer Michael Burnham)

Doug Jones (Lieutenant Saru)

Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca)

Shazad Latif (Lieutenant Ash Tyler)

 Anthony Rapp (Lieutenant Paul Stamets)

 Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou)

 Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly)

 Chris Obi (T’Kuvma)

 Mary Chieffo (L’Rell)

 James Frain (Ambassador Sarek)

 Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd)

 Terry Serpico (Admiral Anderson)

 Maulik Pancholy (Doctor Nambue)

 Damon Runyan (Ujilli)

 Rekha Sharma (Commander Landry)

 Kenneth Mitchell (Kol)

 Clare McConnell (Dennas)

 Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Connor)

PRODUCED BY: CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Living Dead Guy Productions and Roddenberry Entertainment

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Alex Kurtzman, Bryan Fuller, Heather Kadin, Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth

 Facebook: @StarTrekCBS

Twitter: @StarTrekCBS

Instagram: @StarTrekCBS