Spoilers General Disco Chat Thread

[dinzy]

I’m actually thrilled with the 10 episode order too for Disco. 13-15 can get to be a bit much in the midst of serialized storytelling. Sometimes they run out of story before they run out of episodes. I’d be okay with any number of episodes. As long as the story fit it.

It also means you get the next season ~ 23% faster. They usually have some episodes that feel a little weird with the pacing and maybe tightening up could reduce that.

Honestly the episode count is much less of a concern when there are 2 other live action Trek shows.

 

[Campe]

It is a distinct possibility we could get 60 new episodes of Star Trek in a year.

 

[eschaton]

I will say one thing though - the ten-episode order is somewhat of a signal that Discovery is no longer the "flagship" show of Kurtzman Trek, but on equal footing to the other series.

 

[Tuskin38]

I will say one thing though - the ten-episode order is somewhat of a signal that Discovery is no longer the "flagship" show of Kurtzman Trek, but on equal footing to the other series.

There's a theory that it only had 13 episodes because of Netflix.

 

[eschaton]

There's a theory that it only had 13 episodes because of Netflix.

I've heard that, but IMHO it doesn't make much sense, given most Netflix shows these days have eight episodes.

Unless Netflix was paying some sort of flat price for distribution of the series, and was forcing CBS to produce more episodes in order to drop the cost per episode.

 

[Campe]

A season should be as long or short as it needs to be to tell the story effectively. An episode, the same. This concept that a show HAS to be a certain length is terribly antiquated.

 

[Tuskin38]

Didn’t seasons 1 and 2 have episodes added to it during production?

 

[JoaquinSlowly]

A season should be as long or short as it needs to be to tell the story effectively. An episode, the same. This concept that a show HAS to be a certain length is terribly antiquated.

‪‪I very much agree. It’s an unnecessary constraint, and somewhat understandable when limited by network schedules and traditional ad models, but totally needless on a premium streaming platform.

Didn’t seasons 1 and 2 have episodes added to it during production?

Yes, seasons 1-4 of Discovery were all initially 13 episode orders. In season 1 CBS/Paramount added two more during production, and in season 2 they ended up deciding to expand the finale into a 2-parter, and got them to extend the season order by 1.

 

[eschaton]

A season should be as long or short as it needs to be to tell the story effectively. An episode, the same. This concept that a show HAS to be a certain length is terribly antiquated.

I wholeheartedly agree. But one of the issues that I have with modern serialized drama is it often feels (unless adapted from a book or something) that a lot of wheel-spinning is added in order to actually have enough story for a season arc. A lot of Netflix shows work like this - tight first and last episode, big flabby middle.

 

[Lord Garth]

Eventually, they'll develop a paradigm for serialized seasons of television in general (not just Star Trek) that's equivalent to the Syd Field Paradigm used for films. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, this is the template for a typical screenplay, beat-by-beat. Once you know it, you can't un-see it... and you'll always notice when each film hits a certain point, whether you're looking for it or not.

I kind of like that serialized television hasn't quite hammered down a particular season-wide or series-wide formula yet. They're getting there, but still not quite. It keeps me guessing.

 

[shapeshifter]

I've heard that, but IMHO it doesn't make much sense, given most Netflix shows these days have eight episodes.

Theory... At that time it was the only thing on the plate so adding episodes meant longer subs to help get the engine started. Now it is roaring so fewer episodes of each series is normal. Up to 50 a year.

 

[The Habs Fan]

Eventually, they'll develop a paradigm for serialized seasons of television in general (not just Star Trek) that's equivalent to the Syd Field Paradigm used for films. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, this is the template for a typical screenplay, beat-by-beat. Once you know it, you can't un-see it... and you'll always notice when each film hits a certain point, whether you're looking for it or not.

I kind of like that serialized television hasn't quite hammered down a particular season-wide or series-wide formula yet. They're getting there, but still not quite. It keeps me guessing.

I personally think serialized TV seasons do use the Syd Field template, it’s just spread out to encompass the whole season rather than a couple of hours.

 

[Lord Garth]

I personally think serialized TV seasons do use the Syd Field template, it’s just spread out to encompass the whole season rather than a couple of hours.

It would be interesting to see the way it applies to DSC and PIC seasons. And, retroactively, how it would've applied to the opening stretch of DS9 Season 6 and the closing stretch of DS9 Season 7.

 

[Tuskin38]

Season 2 S31 Proto-LCARS
https://twitter.com/timothypeel1/status/1486179010249998336

 

[Roald]

New promo, some very cool shots:

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[Harpsichord]

Just fyi this afternoon (~2 hours after this post) Mary Wiseman is going to be guesting on the Disco Does DnD twitch channel for a session. And if you haven't caught either of the other episodes yet they also have a YT channel with previous streams.

 

[gweeps]

Started finally watching today. First two episodes are mildly interesting. Only character that seems intriguing is Saru. The story is okay. Lots of slick technology. Here's hoping it gets better.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I will say one thing though - the ten-episode order is somewhat of a signal that Discovery is no longer the "flagship" show of Kurtzman Trek, but on equal footing to the other series.

It's because Paramount wants 50 weeks of Trek per year. It has nothing to do with what show is or isn't the flagship.

 

[eschaton]

It's because Paramount wants 50 weeks of Trek per year. It has nothing to do with what show is or isn't the flagship.

There's 52 weeks per year, not 50, so it's not like a round number of 5 series will get you there. And there's no particular reason to presume that CBS wants to have each of the shows appear like clockwork the same week of the year. A few more weeks of Discovery just means everything else is pushed back by a few weeks.

I am really confused TBH by the overlaps happening this year. I can only presume they didn't want to have to push back Picard more than a few weeks.

 

[Campe]

Remember the flare-ups from the pandemic are still messing with production schedules. This rolls down the line quite a bit and can affect release dates. Animated series like Lower Decks and Prodigy which can be largely produced virtually, are less affected. The exception there is scoring. Recording individually can cause some huge issues editing together. Prodigy largely recorded in Budapest because restrictions are lower. I’m speculating of course, but all of this can cause bottlenecks and shifts in the schedule. I imagine this will continue for the next year or two until COVID becomes a bit more endemic.