Spoilers General Disco Chat Thread

[Agony_Boothb]

In previous seasons, when has the show been renewed in relation to the current season? Should we have heard an announcement by now or am I just impatient & spoiled by recent "x renewed before it even premieres" trends?

A couple of months ago, Michelle Paradise indirectly inferred that the writers room was back together for Season 5. I imagine that announcement of the renewal was waylaid by the recent hullabaloo between Paramount + and Netflix. My guess is that we'll get an announcement towards the end of the season. I doubt Paramount + would have bothered to buy back the rights to Discovery from Netflix if they were planning on cancelling it.

 

[SirRocko711]

I doubt Paramount + would have bothered to buy back the rights to Discovery from Netflix if they were planning on cancelling it.

Good point.

 

[Lord Garth]

Certain people make the mistake of assuming the franchise is in trouble based on whether or not they like a series. I base it on the bottom line. Are they making more series or less? Are films coming out more often or less? I put my opinion of said series and films aside.

From 1994-1999, they had two series at the same time and a new movie every two years. Then from 1999-2005, they were down to one series and a new movie took four years. During the early-2000s, Star Trek was in trouble. It couldn't survive as it was. Since 2017 is a different story. The number of series expanded from one to five. Apparently it can survive as it is. At least on Streaming TV. The movies, on the other hand, if you want to say the movies are in trouble, then I might agree. They're going nowhere. But on the TV end, it's not like that.

When Paramount+ starts making less Star Trek series instead of more, that's when I'll agree that Star Trek on TV is in trouble and the series are in danger of cancellation (DSC or otherwise). But it's not going to have anything to do with what the Fandom Menace says. If they're ever right, it's ONLY going to be because even a broken clock is right twice a day. That's it. They won't be right because they actually have a point, they'll be right because of dumb luck.

Right now, DSC looks like it has a bright future ahead of it. When it ends, it'll end on its own terms.

 

[eschaton]

Certain people make the mistake of assuming the franchise is in trouble based on whether or not they like a series. I base it on the bottom line. Are they making more series or less? Are films coming out more often or less? I put my opinion of said series and films aside.

From 1994-1999, they had two series at the same time and a new movie every two years. Then from 1999-2005, they were down to one series and a new movie took four years. During the early-2000s, Star Trek was in trouble. It couldn't survive as it was. Since 2017 is a different story. The number of series expanded from one to five. Apparently it can survive as it is. At least on Streaming TV. The movies, on the other hand, if you want to say the movies are in trouble, then I might agree. They're going nowhere. But on the TV end, it's not like that.

When Paramount+ starts making less Star Trek series instead of more, that's when I'll agree that Star Trek on TV is in trouble and the series are in danger of cancellation (DSC or otherwise). But it's not going to have anything to do with what the Fandom Menace says. If they're ever right, it's ONLY going to be because even a broken clock is right twice a day. That's it. They won't be right because they actually have a point, they'll be right because of dumb luck.

Right now, DSC looks like it has a bright future ahead of it. When it ends, it'll end on its own terms.

As always, my feelings on the matter is Paramount needs Trek to be successful, because it's the strongest franchise they own. We don't really know whether Discovery makes money for them per-se, but lots of streaming programming is more or less a money losing endeavor, with hopes that eventually the cost will be recouped by the service once the library of back content is large enough that a constant stream of new productions don't have to be poured in.

That said, Discovery is in more danger now than ever before, simply because there are a lot of other Trek shows being made - and it's almost certainly still the most expensive one for them. At a certain point it will be compared against all of the other Trek series, and if it underperforms whatever internal metrics they have for the show, then they can feel safe pulling the plug because there's so many other active shows in production.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I think season 5 might be the last.

 

[fireproof78]

Cancellation is inevitable.

 

[Nerys Myk]

They probably have a 32nd Century show waiting in the wings.

 

[Lord Garth]

That said, Discovery is in more danger now than ever before, simply because there are a lot of other Trek shows being made - and it's almost certainly still the most expensive one for them. At a certain point it will be compared against all of the other Trek series, and if it underperforms whatever internal metrics they have for the show, then they can feel safe pulling the plug because there's so many other active shows in production.

I don't see it as danger. If DSC ends after, say, five seasons, it seems to be like it would've been what they planned for. Alex Kurtzman is signed on until 2027 and presumably they've mapped out a timeline for the development of series. That's less cancellation and more ending on its own terms.

I think Picard is as expensive as Discovery. It doesn't look as expensive only because a lot of that budget is going into keeping Patrick Stewart.

SNW, S31, and SFA -- if all three happen -- wouldn't have happened if not for DSC. So those series are all an extension.

 

[Fateor]

I think Picard is as expensive as Discovery. It doesn't look as expensive only because a lot of that budget is going into keeping Patrick Stewart.

Patrick Stewart doesn't care about the money, he's in it for the story.

 

[Lord Garth]

Patrick Stewart doesn't care about the money, he's in it for the story.

That doesn't change the fact that he's probably well paid, and I'm 99.999...% sure the studio wants to pay him a higher salary than anyone else in the casts, as a gesture if nothing else. He holds more power over his show than any other stars hold over theirs. He has seniority, he has experience, he has a higher title as one of the Producers, and all of those factors combined lead to a higher pay. They pay him what they think he's entitled to. It's not a leap to think Alex Kurtzman was probably super-excited to get Patrick Stewart and didn't want to short-change him in any way, perceived or otherwise.

But I don't for one second think Patrick Stewart is in this just for the money. They worked with him to get a story that he wanted to act in. And I don't believe whatever they paid him impacts the quality of the show. Except for when they had the Xerox fleet in the season finale, but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

BTW, I like both series but bear in mind I happen to rate PIC Season 1 higher than DSC.

 

[Fateor]

That doesn't change the fact that he's probably well paid, and I'm 99.999...% sure the studio wants to pay him a higher salary than anyone else in the casts, as a gesture if nothing else. He holds more power over his show than any other stars hold over theirs. He has seniority, he has experience, he has a higher title as one of the Producers, and all of those factors combined lead to a higher pay. They pay him what they think he's entitled to. It's not a leap to think Alex Kurtzman was probably super-excited to get Patrick Stewart and didn't want to short-change him in any way, perceived or otherwise.

But I don't for one second think Patrick Stewart is in this just for the money. They worked with him to get a story that he wanted to act in. And I don't believe whatever they paid him impacts the quality of the show. Except for when they had the Xerox fleet in the season finale, but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

BTW, I like both series but bear in mind I happen to rate PIC Season 1 higher than DSC.

It's pretty clear just from the storyline that Patrick Stewart wanted to do Picard's swansong.

Just like reading between the lines you can see him slowly come to realize "Oh, with creative control I can actually have fun with this while staying true to the character." and then decide on doing season 2.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Certain people make the mistake of assuming the franchise is in trouble based on whether or not they like a series

It reminds me of people who think if they visualize money for long enough they will get rich

 

[fireproof78]

Hope springth eternal.

 

[eschaton]

I found this interesting Youtube essay involving how "good representation" of LGBT characters is...boring.

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At around 19 minutes there's an extended discussion of Star Trek: Discovery.

 

[JoaquinSlowly]

Looks like the season is doing pretty well for Paramount right now.

This week’s global iTunes TV show charts place Discovery Season 4 at number 3, right behind Yellowstone, with Succession in the top spot.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

How many seasons do streaming shows generally run anyways?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Stay right there, I'll call the Manbulance.

 

[Fateor]

How many seasons do streaming shows generally run anyways?

Three.

 

[Commander Troi]

How many seasons do streaming shows generally run anyways?

I don't think original programming on streaming has been around long enough to quite answer that yet IMO.

 

[Tuskin38]

4x05 trailer

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Another returning Enterprise species, the Akaali