Poll Do you consider Discovery to truly be in the Prime Timeline at this point?

[Butters]

Dr Who isn’t Star Trek. Doctor Who may touch on series themes, but it doesn’t take itself seriously. It appeals to all ages, especially children.

Doctor Who can get away with breaking the fourth wall and being self referencing. But those call backs to the classic props, vintage tardis, mondasian Cybermen and Daleks, while played straight, are still just a homage, a nostalgic indulgence to please the audience, just like Trials and Tribbelations, Relics, and in a mirror darkly.

 

[F. King Daniel]

To me Discovery looks exactly where I’d expect the design and technology from Enterprise to develop after a century combined with advances made in the real world. It would be silly to expect the old TOS set. It’s a beautiful design for its time, but that was fifty years ago. People try to drag in Doctor Who as a comparison, but there are different tones for the shows and even Doctor Who bringing out old designs are fairly tongue in cheek. The current Doctor mocks the old design and the old Doctor is shocked at how it’s been changed. Even the old designs of aliens are modified slightly to work better in HD and they are one off episodes, usually on some anniversary or finale. The Doctor is never going to spend a whole season in the classic Tardis console room. It’s fun to see it show up, but it’s not going to stay.

We might see some variation of the Cage uniforms for the Enterprise crew when we see them. Maybe a cross between it and the Kelvin timeline uniforms. The layout of the bridge will probably be the same but with better looking panels and screens.

It doesn’t mean it’s a different timeline, it’s just that designs change. Star Trek is not history that is set in stone. It’s a work of fiction that made be molded and shaped into new forms and we should want that.

Except it's not just the visuals that have changed! The new technologies directly conflict with episodes like "For the Uniform" and the entire premise of Star Trek: Voyager. It's not about the show's quality (I like it just fine, flat finale aside) or that I want classic Trek sets and designs back (I've had more than my fill after Star Trek Continues and all the other fan films), it's that it just doesn't fit in the world of TOS. It's a new thing based on classic Trek, not a direct sequel to classic Trek.

And the only reason CBS insist it's the same world and nothing's changed is probably because their market research (like a poll I did here months ago) said 10% of fans will cancel their subscriptions if they ever admit to such. And apparently they figure those fans will swallow anything with "prime universe" slapped on it.

 

[Butters]

It’s been reported here that TPTB have assured us that everything will line up eventually.

Maybe they’re leading up a Special Edition update to TOS like discussed last year in the future of Trek forum

This is what I had in mind.

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Could be achieved relatively cheaply I imagine. They could even insert Chekhov in to Space Seed.

 

[F. King Daniel]

It’s been reported here that TPTB have assured us that everything will line up eventually.

And Benedict Cumberbatch isn't Khan.

I suspect their idea of things "lining up" would make the X-Men movie franchise look like the pinnacle of tightly-woven continuity.

 

[Butters]

And Benedict Cumberbatch isn't Khan.

I suspect their idea of things "lining up" would make the X-Men movie franchise look like the pinnacle of tightly-woven continuity.

Different powers. And that movie was an aberration. Cumberbatch was nothing like the Kahn we saw in Space Seed or TWOK, entirely different behaviour, motives and objective.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Different powers. And that movie was an aberration. Cumberbatch was nothing like the Kahn we saw in Space Seed or TWOK, entirely different behaviour, motives and objective.

And the Klingons of Discovery are just like the Klingons of TOS how?

 

[Butters]

And the Klingons of Discovery are just like the Klingons of TOS how?

Well they’re not are they. The Klingon mythos has been expanded well beyond the baddies we saw in TOS. They gained ridges in TMP, and lost hair in DSC.

I’d rather the Klingons had kept the look they developed through TNG, but the new look has grown on me. The decision to lose the hair does baffle me, but it’s not a deal breaker.

 

[BillJ]

Maybe they’re leading up a Special Edition update to TOS like discussed last year in the future of Trek forum.

They aren't going to spend money on something like that.

At the end of the day, none of the people associated with the show had anything to do with TOS. It is its own thing.

 

[fireproof78]

And the Klingons of Discovery are just like the Klingons of TOS how?

Hostile towards humans. Planets poor in resources, and highly combative, hunter like species.

That's what TOS really showed us.

With Voyager? There are people who look back on that as something to aspire to? Umm, I am skeptical...

Yes, they do. At least for its popularity on Netflix.

 

[cooleddie74]

Me too. I remember when a sub forum was opened up to speculate on Series 5. The same arguments and counter arguments over and again. The circle of life.

"Will Mr. T Cameo in Series V?"

Good times, yo. Good times.

 

[The Wormhole]

From memory the Ice Warriors and the Zygons both appeared in recent series. Both in line with what had been seen before, not in anniversary episodes or finales, not tongue-in-cheek.,

The Zygons were brought back in Day of the Doctor, which was the 50th anniversary special. True, they also came back in a season 9 story, but that was a follow-up to Day of the Doctor, or rather the Zygon storyline of the special, which did sort of just get shoved aside when it was suddenly decided to Save Gallifrey.

 

[Tuskin38]

The new technologies directly conflict with episodes like "For the Uniform" and the entire premise of Star Trek: Voyager.

Nope. People have explained this too you dozens of times but you just ignore what you don’t want to hear.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Nope. People have explained this too you dozens of times but you just ignore what you don’t want to hear.

As you continue to ignore that your continuity fixes are entirely your creation and in no way depicted on-screen.

 

[Tuskin38]

As you continue to ignore that your continuity fixes are entirely your creation and in no way depicted on-screen.

That’s par for the course with star trek

 

[Awesome Possum]

Except it's not just the visuals that have changed! The new technologies directly conflict with episodes like "For the Uniform" and the entire premise of Star Trek: Voyager. It's not about the show's quality (I like it just fine, flat finale aside) or that I want classic Trek sets and designs back (I've had more than my fill after Star Trek Continues and all the other fan films), it's that it just doesn't fit in the world of TOS. It's a new thing based on classic Trek, not a direct sequel to classic Trek.

And the only reason CBS insist it's the same world and nothing's changed is probably because their market research (like a poll I did here months ago) said 10% of fans will cancel their subscriptions if they ever admit to such. And apparently they figure those fans will swallow anything with "prime universe" slapped on it.

At a certain point you slipped into a conspiracy theory.

 

[Midquest]

As you continue to ignore that your continuity fixes are entirely your creation and in no way depicted on-screen.

But it's not the show's responsibility to explain things that don't need explaining. There's simply no conflict between the things like the rough, dodgy holograms of Discovery (which look far less advanced than holograms in TOS, which seemed not at all surprising to Kirk and Spock, and less advanced than holograms in the TOS movies) and the perfect, photoreal holograms later in Deep Space Nine. Nothing on screen or in the writing conflicts.

 

[F. King Daniel]

But it's not the show's responsibility to explain things that don't need explaining. There's simply no conflict between the things like the rough, dodgy holograms of Discovery (which look far less advanced than holograms in TOS, which seemed not at all surprising to Kirk and Spock, and less advanced than holograms in the TOS movies) and the perfect, photoreal holograms later in Deep Space Nine. Nothing on screen or in the writing conflicts.

We have photoreal holograms in Discovery, every time Burnham turns on the holomirror. Ditto the DiscoHolodeck, there's nothing unreal about it. The holograms even interact with the environment, as we saw with Sarek leaning on Burnham's desk.

If the show intends to be a true prequel (which the producers claim it is but the art department thinks not), it has a responsibility to show us how these seemingly obvious and massive discrepancies fit into the overall world.

 

[Gonzo]

We have photoreal holograms in Discovery, every time Burnham turns on the holomirror. Ditto the DiscoHolodeck, there's nothing unreal about it. The holograms even interact with the environment, as we saw with Sarek leaning on Burnham's desk.

If the show intends to be a true prequel (which the producers claim it is but the art department thinks not), it has a responsibility to show us how these seemingly obvious and massive discrepancies fit into the overall world.

Even though I am not bothered ether way on this particular issue I must admit I laughed out loud when Sarek leaned on the desk.

Its almost like they were in a hurry with no time to actually think about what they are filming, the only way it could work is if there was also a desk in exactly the same place in the room that Sarek is sending the message from, otherwise he would end up falling on his ass when trying to lean back on something that isn't physically there with him.

I just put it all down to time limitations and production changes and move on.

 

[Tuskin38]

We have photoreal holograms in Discovery, every time Burnham turns on the holomirror. Ditto the DiscoHolodeck, there's nothing unreal about it. The holograms even interact with the environment, as we saw with Sarek leaning on Burnham's desk.

If the show intends to be a true prequel (which the producers claim it is but the art department thinks not), it has a responsibility to show us how these seemingly obvious and massive discrepancies fit into the overall world.

A mirror is probably a lot easier to do then a transmission as the person is right in the room and only mimicking them.

The holodeck looked more primitive then both the TAS and TNG holodecks. For one thing it wasn’t a room sized device, there were physical projectors right there.

 

[Awesome Possum]

If we create holograms in the next few decades, does that mean reality is no longer canon?