Starfleet Academy Official Trailer

[tenmei]

Not loving the premise ("Come enroll at our school and we'll help you find your mother!" )

I read it as Captain Ake was responsible for Caleb's mother going missing and Caleb being placed into the position he is on the (Emerald Chain?) mining station. She's been trying to find him for at least a decade, and feels guilty because of that. I'd guess if its taken her a decade to find Caleb, she probably doesn't want to leave him there whilst she goes and finds Mummy Mir - so she takes him with her to the Athena where she can keep an eye on him whilst she does it.

 

[Rahul]

I'm gonna' be honest - this looks like ass.

Weirdly it reminds me mostly of the Section 31 movie, and not Disco seasons 3-5 (which it should).

It got that weird mix where the world-building feels totally un-Star Trek-like, but then everything is coated in layers of references & familiar visuals. Where instead it should be the opposite, create it's own stories, unique look and visual language, but be set within the rule set of the Trek lore.

 

[Tuskin38]

did we watch completely different trailers?

 

[fireproof78]

I'll own my bias in that I have wanted an Academy for a long time, but I am completely flabbergasted at the categorical rejection of this series out of hand. It has enough meat to be enjoyable, while leaving much open. It feels organic to the world of Star Trek, with people joining from various backgrounds.

What else is needed?

 

[kirk55555]

It looks like a CW show with a Discovery paint job, complete with CW looking "Young Adults" (who may be anywhere from 18-30 in age IRL) making out in a significant portion of the trailer. Not even Robert Picardo can make me deal with that, just like he couldn't get me to get through Prodigy. Although neither of these shows are his fault obviously, it just sucks that my favorite Voyager character (and probably a Top 5/10 All Time ST character) keeps popping up in shows I can't stand/have no desire to watch.

 

[tenmei]

It looks like a CW show with a Discovery paint job, complete with CW looking "Young Adults" (who may be anywhere from 18-30 in age IRL) making out in a significant portion of the trailer.

We may have to reevaluate the dictionary definition of majority if 3 seconds out of a two minute plus trailer is a majority.

 

[Jayson Poorknees]

I mean, even if you did just the episode 'Family' itself from TNG strongly implies that Jean-Luc was running to Starfleet away from some serious family issues.

I always felt his desire to join Starfleet was a source of conflict more than him wanting to join Starfleet just to get away from his dad. Picard simply had no desire to live that conservative type of lifestyle his parents did. This disappointed his dad and made his brother jealous because he felt it was his duty to keep the family wine business going but who was personality wise more like their dad than Jean Luc was.

 

[Rahul]

It's just such a wasted opportunity. I wanted a Starfleet Academy series for a long time. But this ain't it.
Here the vibes of joining Starfleet Academy are all wrong.

There shouldn't be a reluctant grumpy action hero, with a personal grudge against the badguy, being pulled back into duty by a commanding officer.

It should be like on the "Foundation" series, where Gaal wins in a math contest, and then travels to the core worlds, to participate in something greater. Something nerdy, that many people won't care much for, but that shapes and influences the future of the whole universe, and wanting to make it a bit better.

Or at least Top Gun in space. Like on that JJ movie. Not perfect. But still better.

 

[Danja]

It's just such a wasted opportunity. I wanted a Starfleet Academy series for a long time. But this ain't it.
Here the vibes of joining Starfleet Academy are all wrong.

There shouldn't be a reluctant grumpy action hero, with a personal grudge against the badguy, being pulled back into duty by a commanding officer.

Ake: "I'm going to protect you. I'm going to protect you by throwing your butt into a situation where you risk getting killed!"

 

[fireproof78]

It's just such a wasted opportunity. I wanted a Starfleet Academy series for a long time. But this ain't it.
Here the vibes of joining Starfleet Academy are all wrong.

There shouldn't be a reluctant grumpy action hero, with a personal grudge against the badguy, being pulled back into duty by a commanding officer.

Tuskin put it best...

did we watch completely different trailers?

I don't know why there is this expectation of an Academy series? Seems to me that it has a variety of characters with various motivations for joining. I don't think he's grumpy but has a history. Other characters are going to be different. That's the hook point is these people working together.

 

[Steve Roby]

Holly Hunter looks a bit iffy, but sometimes a character grows on you. Giamatti will chew that scenery, that's for sure. The age bracket is not my own

The way I look at it, Holly Hunter's 67, Paul Giamatti's 58, Gina Yashere's 51, and so on. I'm 62. There are regulars in the show in my age bracket. I'll get by.

Ake: "I'm going to protect you. I'm going to protect you by throwing your butt into a situation where you risk getting killed!"

Crusher: "Jean-Luc's laidback life at his vineyard is too too dangerous, so I won't tell anyone I've had a son. He's being chased around the lawless areas outside the Federation, where I don't have to worry about his safety."

 

[Verteron]

Well, it doesn't look good. That's all I'm saying.

Still, if it's as bad as it seems it might finally send Kurtzman packing, we can close out SNW and make some new Treks in a couple years once the dust settles. And make them good.

 

[Steve Roby]

I've seen a lot of good Star Trek since 2017. There's been some duds here and there, but the average is better than it was in the Voyager/Enterprise years. So I'm not going to judge Starfleet Academy until I actually see it.

 

[Tuskin38]

if I judged every show/movie off their trailers, I would have not watched some of my favourite movies or shows.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I've seen a lot of good Star Trek since 2017. There's been some duds here and there, but the average is better than it was in the Voyager/Enterprise years. So I'm not going to judge Starfleet Academy until I actually see it.

Agreed. And it's bewildering that so many people dismiss it as "bad" or "CW" simply because of the young cast and a few snippets of out of context footage (of course, some folks come in here pre-disposed to trash any new Trek regardless, so, whatever). Its set at a school, so of course there will be younger actors involved and as you pointed out, the students are far from the only cast, and the faculty and villain casting is strong. If people simply want to dismiss it because its set in a school, that's fine, but for my money, one of the best Star Trek comics ever released was Marvel's Starfleet Academy book featuring Nog and his squadmates back in the 90s.

 

[fireproof78]

Agreed. And it's bewildering that so many people dismiss it as "bad" or "CW" simply because of the young cast and a few snippets of out of context footage (of course, some folks come in here pre-disposed to trash any new Trek regardless, so, whatever). Its set at a school, so of course there will be younger actors involved and as Steve Roby pointed out, the students are far from the only cast, and the faculty and villain casting is strong. If people simply want to dismiss it because its set in a school, that's fine, but for my money, one of the best Star Trek comics ever released was Marvel's Starfleet Academy book featuring Nog and his squadmates back in the 90s.

What's even more baffling to me is the constant deriding as CW which would indicate a greater familiarity with CW shows than I would expect from the detractors.

Honestly, Riker could be downright "CW" at times by the definitions I'm seeing. Sorry, haven't watched CW shows.

 

[Lord Garth]

I've never seen a CW show before. I don't watch it. So whenever someone tries to pull the "It's like a CW show!" routine, all I can say is, "Well, you apparently know more about that than I do."

 

[Steve Roby]

If people simply want to dismiss it because its set in a school, that's fine, but for my money, one of the best Star Trek comics ever released was Marvel's Starfleet Academy book featuring Nog and his squadmates back in the 90s.

Yep. I thought it was Marvel's second best comic after Early Voyages. And on average the TV series that covers similar ground to Early Voyages has been pretty enjoyable, so heck, maybe the Academy TV series will be good too. The Academy premise itself is not a problem. It's worked before.

 

[eschaton]

I'm not getting the real negative opinion here, since it seems pretty much what was advertised.

It seems like they're very much going with Caleb as being the "main character" of the series, with a personal connection to both Ake (the chancellor of the academy) and Braka (the villain of the season). Looks like he also gets the love interest (Zoë Steiner's character - Tarima Sadal), and that Tatiana Maslany is playing his mother.

I can see some people being somewhat let down by this, because it kind of cuts down on the "purity" of the concept of the Academy as a setting if you have a main character bringing so much baggage into the season. But I don't know if that many non-Trekkies will be able to hold the interest based upon the concept alone, and the idea of a special main character who has a lot of backstory in a school setting is pretty frequent (see Harry Potter).

That said, I'm hoping that most of what we're seeing here is from Episode 1, and that they cycle around the main cast in the later episodes, giving them all a chance to shine.

 

[Zombie Cheerleader]

Since is seems to be an issue
"A war college is a senior military academy which is normally intended for veteran military officers and whose purpose is to educate and 'train on' senior military tacticians, strategists, and leaders. It is also often the place where advanced tactical and strategic thought is conducted, both for the purpose of developing doctrine and for the purpose of identifying implications and shifts in long-term patterns."