Let’s be silly: predict the number of seasons Discovery runs; come back later to see if you're right

Reports of Discovery's death after the first season were greatly exaggerated. Reports of Discovery's death after the second season were greatly exaggerated. Reports of Discovery's death after the third season were greatly exaggerated.

At this point, barring a major shift in Paramount's goals (never say never, granted) it's probable that whenever the show ends it will be on the producers' terms. Which is great! However, we as viewers have no clue when that will be. Even if we cite past commentary from Kurtzman and other influential folks, things change all the time.

When I think of TrekBBS, "long-lived" is the #1 term that pops into my mind. People have been posting here for decades. We can go back through the archives and see people asking David A. Goodman Enterprise-related questions while the show was still on the flippin' air. Unless the forums close or this thread gets deleted, we'll be able to read it a long while from now.

Here's my guess: six seasons. It falls just short of the magical Berman-era seven due to a combination of factors. For one thing, (I believe?) those six seasons will have been filmed over a somewhat longer course of time than TNG, DS9, and VOY spent filming. Critical cast members may wish to move on. For another, by 2024 or so Star Trek will presumably also have Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Prodigy. (I've left Picard off the list because I'm guessing, as many are guessing, that it will end with three seasons or so under its belt due to Sir Patrick's advanced age.) Lastly, this is a seriously expensive production and the cost is only going to keep going up.

I also think the show will end with a movie-tier bang, albeit a movie that is primarily intended for Paramount+ audiences with a limited theatrical run. That will be the big, splashy finish line. But hey, now I'm getting beyond the scope of this topic.

So what say you, fellow forumites? Do you want to take a guess as to how long DISCO goes on for, leave that guess here for years, and come back when the show ends to see if you were right?

You certainly don't have to. If your thought process here is "what's the point," carry on! I just thought it might be amusing to see who was right on the money in the final telling.

 

I'll say seven. Although I fear that the number of episodes per season could go down to ten or even less.

 

I personally think five, mainly because a lot of shows these days voluntarily pull the plug after their fifth season.

 

Seven seasons may not even be enough to equal the number of episodes of TOS!

 

Yeah, five is my guess.

 

Elevendy

 

10, but with some major cast changes along the way.

 

I'm going with seven.

I could be totally wrong, but it doesn't sound like or feel like DSC's getting close to the end of its run. They've just settled into the 32nd Century and made Burnham the Captain.

 

Oh, you know, I totally forgot to mention this but I expect episode count to drop even further as well. Now, I'm no armchair industry analyst so I could be way off base here, but I would imagine at least that producing three live-action shows at once could financially necessitate lowering the number of episodes ordered. PIC and SNW have 10 and will have 10, respectively, but to keep DIS running within that same family it may need to be cut down.

The longer it runs, the likelier this will be the case.

But hey, whatever happens, I'm happy for what I can get!

Yeah, I think tonally and narratively speaking, at least, I'd want another few seasons of the show on the same basis. Two seasons in the 23rd century and five in the 32nd is pretty much the dream, IMO.

 

I think Disco is going to surpass ENT by either seasons (5) or number of episodes (100+).

 

In fairness to ENT, it came out so late in the Previous Cycle of Star Trek, that it would've had a shorter run no matter what. Any Star Trek series introduced in 2001 would've ended up in the same predicament.

DSC was the first series released in the Current Cycle, so I think it'll have the chance to end on its own terms. I think the final season of Discovery will be announced as the final season ahead of time. When the time comes, we won't be wondering about it. We'll know because they told us.

 

Zero. It was canceled before Season One and Kurtzman was fired.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

At this point, I tend to think if Disco ends “early,” it will be because of something well beyond its pay grade. Like the collapse of Paramount+, or a corporate push for something fresh to entice subscribers (like how comics are renumbered on the regular). Trek has been a rare asset for All Access/P+’s financials, but I think it’s tricky to predict what the streaming world will look like in the next few years. Discovery’s fate, and that of the other Trek shows, probably hinges on how they make the ledgers work, rather than on any assessment of their critical value. It’s about dollars, not Gene’s vision.

More interesting, I think, will be to see if Discovery has life beyond the series in any form. If it does, that will be a testament to its success and value as an IP.

 

Disco ends when SNW and PIC are more successful

 

I smirked.

 

Eight seasons, just out of spite!

 

This is what I was thinking. There are plenty of stories in the 32nd century so I don't think the creative crew will give up before the magic Star Trek 7

 

Seasons, yes, number of episodes, I don't think so.

 

And every season of past present and future that hits the screen, as well as marketing merchandise and whole streaming services built around it are just the attempt to hide it‘s failure, of course

 

You forget to put "woke credentials" and "shoehorning" in there