Thing is, Disco still got in trouble for having the word fuck spoken in the first season, resulting in a meta joke in the second season where Tilly points out she's "been requested to stop using profanity."
Should DSC and PIC have a run in syndication?
- Thread starter Ralphis
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Wow, really? You'd think with the freedom of streaming, it might be allowed in small increments. But this is why I did say earlier in another post, "this IS CBS though.. not Netflix". CBS is so mainstream that I figured it might still keep a watchful eye on even it's streaming shows.
It looks like Tilly saying "f----k" also got press -- it got written about in a few articles. Most fans seem to like it. To most people its not that big of a deal to say something like that on a streaming format, but we're not used to hearing Trek characters talk that way.
It's a little silly to be that watchful. -- a lot of people want to see Trek characters act like relatable people. And Trek should feel modern. It's going to get a lot of competition from other shows that don't have those restrictions.
I'm not saying they have to go way out into soft core porn or sound the Sopranos all the time. If it's going to be shown on a subscribed streaming format, they might as well take advantage of the freedom.
I took that as a joke about the fan overreaction, rather then them getting in any kind of real trouble.
https://comicbook.com/startrek/2018/04/22/star-trek-discovery-canadian-broadcast-standards/
And before anyone gets started about it being Canada where Disco is in fact broadcast on cable TV, it's still notable given Canada in fact has more lax rules about profanity on TV than the US. Take for example Canadian versions of episodes of The Expanse, which include up to eight F-Bombs per episode, that get edited out of the American broadcasts.
IIRC, the real issue wasn't so much the use of the word Fuck so much as the time the episode aired with such profanity. Indeed, if it had just aired one hour later there would be no issue at all, given that was the same time slot that Trailer Park Boys used to air, a Canadian show which dropped liberal profanity every thirty seconds. Indeed, Trailer Park Boys is a good indication of just how loose the profanity rules are on Canadian television, given eve the daytime reruns of the show leave most of the profanity intact, editing out only the words Fuck and Cock. The show was unable to take off in the US due to American broadcast standards requiring all the profanity to be edited out, which basically makes the show completely unwatchable since it's basically just a long string of bleeps with disjointed dialogue offered here and there.
So, yeah, Disco managed to break the profanity on television rules in a country that really doesn't give much of a shit on the matter. If you're doing that, it's probably a good idea to step back and not bother.
The Canadian channel that broadcasts Disco is based in Toronto, which is where Disco is filmed. I find it very likely they were aware of the trouble the F-Bomb stirred, and therefore I viewed Tilly's line about being requested to stop using profanity to be a reference to that.
^^ this
Though I still have to giggle at the concept: Given that Blu-Ray has (for now, in 5 years I suspect it won't be an issue) higher overall bandwidth than any 4K streaming service, it still has better picture quality, despite a lower pixel count. (I've gawked at freeze frames from both and looked at the raw numbers shown on screen, it's the megapixel myth.) Buying a big set to stream in order to see only highly compressed streaming material seems silly; that TV better have some robust image processing algorithms (which help, but don't restore data removed from the 'master' to be sent over. Especially interlace fields... eww.)
Now the day one or two providers carry all shows, at best resolution, will be a lot nicer than ponying up six or twelve services as it then becomes far cheaper to have a cable box and service as opposed to all the streaming services, hardware needed to run it on, the cost of the broadband on top of that, etc, etc, etc...
The word 'cable' in the headline has caused me way my grief than I ever would have thought. Anyone have any red matter or a time ship I can borrow so I can go back in time and convince 'younger' me to re-ward the headline "Should DSC and PIC have a run in syndication"? Syndication is I ever really meant. While I'm at it, I'll probably tell 'younger' me to lay off the cherry pies, but that's neither here or there. 
Timeline altered.
I have no doubt that many millennial hipsters believe that broadcast and cable networks are on "life support" but there are still dozens of first run shows that are doing great.
My problem with streaming is that there are too many services. You aren't saving money over cable/satellite costs as you are having to purchase all these different service networks and having to do it separately instead of getting one bill as you do with cable/satellite. It is not more convenient. If I really want to see a movie or tv show, there is still Blu-ray and DVD. I don't have to worry about a service taking those away from me.
Is Discovery getting great viewership? Is anyone talking about this show outside of fan groups? Where is the merchandise? Would the show be doing better on a popular network/cable station or a more popular streaming service? It's hard to answer these questions when we don't have any accurate viewership numbers for streaming shows.
Is the problem with the delivery service or the show itself? It has been constantly shifting it's focus from season to season, (or sometimes mid-season). This is clearly not a successful show.
Obviously, many here do care about this show. I only have interest in Picard, and my concern is that it does not suffer for popularity the way Disco has.
My problem with streaming is that there are too many services. You aren't saving money over cable/satellite costs as you are having to purchase all these different service networks and having to do it separately instead of getting one bill as you do with cable/satellite. It is not more convenient. If I really want to see a movie or tv show, there is still Blu-ray and DVD. I don't have to worry about a service taking those away from me.
Is Discovery getting great viewership? Is anyone talking about this show outside of fan groups? Where is the merchandise? Would the show be doing better on a popular network/cable station or a more popular streaming service? It's hard to answer these questions when we don't have any accurate viewership numbers for streaming shows.
Is the problem with the delivery service or the show itself? It has been constantly shifting it's focus from season to season, (or sometimes mid-season). This is clearly not a successful show.
Obviously, many here do care about this show. I only have interest in Picard, and my concern is that it does not suffer for popularity the way Disco has.
Unsuccessful shows don't get a whole universe of spin offs built up around them.
Generation X here. I'm not a Millennial or a Hipster.
Broadcast TV is on the way down. I've never said anything about cable networks in the past, which have had historically lower numbers that regular networks. But with less people subscribing to services like Comcast, there are concerns among public access stations that they'll be off the air without cable providers (along with reserved channels and, in several cases, funding) and so will possibly have to switch to being exclusively online. It's a real concern at least in that corner. Eventually they'll have to depend on a different broadcasting model and alternative means of funding to remain in operation.
Cable stations will have to adapt too and have been. As have the traditional networks. That's why CBS All Access exists in the first place and why NBC wants to launch something similar.
I have friends and family who watch DSC but they're not going to post on here. BBSes aren't their thing and they don't want to be bothered with defending show from constant attack by the other side. Quite a few are on Facebook Groups, but that's really not the same thing.
The sense I get off of PIC is that it will be "Berman Trek in Kurtzman Style". Kurtzman and Chabon have described the show as feeling like a combination of TNG and DSC. If you subscribe to the "drop of blood" mentality and don't want any other Trek resembling Discovery, then you probably won't like Picard because it will have some of that feel at least to some extent.
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What year is this?
2525.
In the year 2525 if man is still allliiivvveee.....
We might not know the exact numbers, but CBS is obviously very happy with it's performance, and what it has done for CBS All Access.
I'd say the fact that it is getting one direct one hour spin-off series, a bunch of Short Treks, a whole bunch of books, comics, and tie-ins in the mobile games and Star Trek Online, and has inspired CBS to launch a whole crapload of unrealted shows, is a good sign that they are happy with it's performance. There's also the fact that it's getting at least a third season.
We might not know the exact numbers, but CBS is obviously very happy with it's performance, and what it has done for CBS All Access.
This is not the traditional way any more. Merchandising, especially Trek merchandising, has always been more limited than other shows, even GoT or The Walking Dead. And certainly have seen plenty in terms of uniform replicas, badges and Eaglemoss ships. As with most things now, it is very niche.
And what would the viewership numbers prove? That CBS wants to continue forward with DSC? The fact that they are putting more money into it should be proof enough.
Exactly.
I know more real-life people who watch the show now than I ever knew during TNG, DS9, VOY, or ENT. People who would never be caught dead watching Trek are watching Trek for the first time. I know a woman of 65 who hates Trek and loves Discovery. I know a man of 30 who refused to watch Trek and watches Discovery. I know a few people in their late twenties who don't watch sci-fi and watch Discovery. I've heard people talking about it at grocery stores, and I saw a runner in a Disco shirt last week in my neighborhood. The buzz isn't at Game of Thrones levels, but I find it hard to believe that the major metropolitan area I live in routinely reflects the fervor around shows like Thrones accurately but is an unrepresentative, freak bubble of Discovery fandom.
As for viewership and merchandise, that's not really the world we live in anymore, is it? People engage with television in a different way. What we do have is plenty of data to suggest that the show is popular, such as from Parrot Analytics, which cites Discovery as the "most in-demand digital original series worldwide" and the "#2 science-fiction series worldwide" based on in-demand expressions. That's different than viewership, but it seems to be what matters in the streaming world.
There's also the fact that CBS AA has outpaced their target subscriber goals and greenlit not one but at least three further Trek shows. That doesn't happen if they don't like what they've gotten so far.
So maybe let's not be hasty with this conclusion.
Millennial Hipsters? Really? It's Hedonistic Millennials. Get it right.
It constantly shifts its focus because it's been constantly changing showrunners.
Anyway, I know this thread started off as talking about "first"-run sydncation, but there's also strip syndication.
I'm not sure how three 10-episode seasons will translate into strip syndication. There won't be enough there. I don't think PIC would translate into that type of airing format. They'd have to tack Picard onto the TNG package.
DSC, depending on how many seasons it lasts, probably could be something that would air on BBC America or H&I in the future, after it finishes its run. Eventually they'll want more Star Trek besides the first five series, if it's out there.
I'm not sure how three 10-episode seasons will translate into strip syndication. There won't be enough there. I don't think PIC would translate into that type of airing format. They'd have to tack Picard onto the TNG package.
DSC, depending on how many seasons it lasts, probably could be something that would air on BBC America or H&I in the future, after it finishes its run. Eventually they'll want more Star Trek besides the first five series, if it's out there.
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If CBS All Access will be successful in the longterm against all kinds of streaming competition, I don't think any new Star Trek series will ever air on TV in the USA. CBS All Access is currently building up a content library. They need exclusive series for this which aren't available anywhere else.
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SO who was the idiot at the Canadian Stations who decided to broadcast the show in the wrong time slot?
Cause I'm pretty sure that CBS wasn't involved in that decision.
