Poll How many seasons do you think Discovery will get?

[Lord Garth]

I haven't started a new thread in a while. But here's one. How many seasons do you think Discovery will ultimately end up with?

I think it'll run seven seasons and have 90-something episodes. My rationale is that they want to fill up the year first. By the time this happens, Picard will be in its third season. If PIC ends after three seasons, another show will take its place. More specifically, a spin-off series set in the 25th Century. Which means Discovery will still have its slot at least through its sixth season because the sixth season of DSC would be the same year as the first season of Picard's spin-off.

And if you go six, you might as well go seven. Then CBS All Access can say Discovery, their first Star Trek series, ran the distance and went the "full" seven seasons. I think anything less than seven, because DSC was the first, would be perceived negatively and they don't want to do that.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

7 sounds good to me!

 

[The Wormhole]

I wouldn't be surprised if it ends with the fifth season. A lot of shows voluntarily end after five seasons these days.

 

[BillJ]

I think it'll depend when salary bumps come for the stars and behind-the-scenes folks. So probably season three to five is when they'll cut the cord.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

5 season, spanning 7 years.

 

[The Wormhole]

5 season, spanning 7 years.

As of season 3, the show already spans over 900 years.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Don't know. But like most series, probably a season or two longer than it should.

 

[donners22]

3.

It's just too divisive among fans, and while personally I think much of the reaction is silly, they've shown a propensity to let the tail wag the dog at the expense of the product.

Add in the backstage shuffles depriving the show of any clear and consistent vision, the huge budget and the risky jump into a very unfamiliar setting, and I'd be surprised if it goes beyond the next season.

 

[Lord Garth]

3.

It's just too divisive among fans, and while personally I think much of the reaction is silly, they've shown a propensity to let the tail wag the dog at the expense of the product.

Add in the backstage shuffles depriving the show of any clear and consistent vision, the huge budget and the risky jump into a very unfamiliar setting, and I'd be surprised if it goes beyond the next season.

I was online during the DS9/VOY years. DSC is no more divisive than those series were. I was there. If TPTB go by the Internet, nothing would last.

How long (or how short) the series -- any series -- will last will be based on how much a network (or streaming service in this case) values it, whether or not it's financially feasible to make, and how well it's performing compared to what else the channel or service is putting out. If DSC is CBSAA's #1 show, then the people who hate the show can stomp, cry, throw a tantrum, and pout all they want, but they're still not going to get their way because DSC won't be going anywhere. The silent majority is what translates into subscription numbers, not the vocal minority.

ENT didn't run passed four seasons because it was no longer UPN's #1 show and it lost viewers to the point where UPN's business model could no longer sustain the series. That's what did the series in. Not people complaining online. Since DSC is CBSAA's #1 show (and will probably be #2 when Picard comes out) and its business model can sustain DSC, neither of those things apply.

I maintain that DSC will end on its own terms. Not the terms of those who are upset that they didn't get their way. They should get used to it. If I could deal with not getting my way when it came to Star Trek, from 1999-2017 -- 18 fucking years -- then they can put up with one series they don't like. I feel no sympathy for them whatsoever. They'll just have to tough it out. And if they don't like having to tough it out, then that's their problem, not Discovery's and not mine.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Guessing 4, but that really is a random guess. A lot of Netflix shows end after the third season because the contracts the cast signed include a HUGE pay increase for seasons beyond that. If CBS-AA do similar, that's what'll determine how long Discovery runs for.

 

[guyute03]

Good thread. My gut tells me, based on how TV seasons and stories are condensed now, that 5 seasons sounds like a sweet spot for the story. You make convincing points though. Having a Trek show run seven seasons again harkens back to arguably the most popular time in Trek: TNG/DS9/VOY. And they'd love to recapture that.

 

[serabine]

Guessing 4, but that really is a random guess. A lot of Netflix shows end after the third season because the contracts the cast signed include a HUGE pay increase for seasons beyond that. If CBS-AA do similar, that's what'll determine how long Discovery runs for.

I think that's a Netflix specific quirk that comes from how the creator owned content is financed to entice creators to sign on. Any article I've seen indicates that their "pay-bump after 3 years and you can't sell the show on if we cancel it" model is unusual and not the norm. CBS All Access is owned by a traditional media company that is an extension of their existing network, showing programming that isn't licenced but that they own outright. If their numbers are good and they have the normal 5-7 year contracts before actors can renegotiate, nothing will stop them from going longer than three seasons.

Good thread. My gut tells me, based on how TV seasons and stories are condensed now, that 5 seasons sounds like a sweet spot for the story. You make convincing points though. Having a Trek show run seven seasons again harkens back to arguably the most popular time in Trek: TNG/DS9/VOY. And they'd love to recapture that.

And no matter how long Disco runs it will be "proof" of its failure.
Five seasons? Cancelled before they reached seven because the true fans hated it!
Seven seasons? Yeah but they had only twelve to fifteen episodes each, so it doesn't count!

 

[eschaton]

As I've said before, my guess is four. I believe that the fourth season of Discovery will not appear until well into 2022 either, given it seems like it takes at least 16 months to finish a season of Discovery, and I wouldn't be surprised with a longer hiatus this time.

Basically, there's oodles of Trek content in the works now. Picard is coming out soon. Lower Decks should premier within less than 12 months. Section 31 is coming. The Nickelodeon show, which may or may not appear on All Access. And by 2022, they'll likely be announcing another planned show or two, including probably their plans for the "Picardverse" post Picard - presuming the show is a hit.

Basically, with lots of Trek being created, Discovery will have to "work harder" to prove its survival is worthwhile. Part of this is because it will likely remain the most expensive Trek for some time to produce, due to salaries, VFX, and episode length. Part of this is because it might not be the highest-rated Trek show by that time. A lot of it, however, is that the future of the franchise no longer rests on the success of Discovery, making the show much less important to CBS. It goes from being a keystone to its strategy to another brick in the wall.

 

[DaveyNY]

I guessed 5.
But my prediction reliability in such matters has more often than not been way off the mark.

 

[TPezz]

I think it’ll get it’s 7 seasons. That’s the Trek standard usually. However I think it’ll be over like 10+ years, not year after year as with free to air tv. Despite what the naysayers argue, the show has been successful and continues to do so. It also has the back of Netflix.

I also think, if they play their cards right with timings, Picard may bring in new fans to DSC. People who maybe haven’t given a thought to Trek for years, who were fans of TNG, and decide to give PIC a watch, could get them back into the Trek environment and wanting to watch other new shows in the series.

 

[Jadeb]

How long (or how short) the series -- any series -- will last will be based on how much a network (or streaming service in this case) values it, whether or not it's financially feasible to make, and how well it's performing compared to what else the channel or service is putting out. If DSC is CBSAA's #1 show, then the people who hate the show can stomp, cry, throw a tantrum, and pout all they want, but they're still not going to get their way because DSC won't be going anywhere. The silent majority is what translates into subscription numbers, not the vocal minority.

I'll be surprised if it runs seven years. Not because of the ratings, necessarily, or because of fan moaning, but just because subscription services thrive on novelty. CBS is more likely to get new subscriptions with an exciting jumping-on point rather than the sixth or seventh year of a show people have already decided if they're interested in.

For now, the show is doing heavy lifting for CBS, so I think it's safe for the foreseeable future. But once All Access reaches a certain saturation point with Trek, the dynamics of show survival will change pretty significantly, I think. Even great shows might only last a little while.

 

[Spaceship Jo]

Five seasons over 7 to 10 years seems likely. I doubt they'll hang on to the actors longer than that. I agree with much of what's been said above and I think 5 seasons / 7 years is solid, though the argument that people will call it a failure is just as silly as people calling it a success under criteria we don't know. Streaming simply isn't like the standard network metrics. People will call it a win or loss with no basis because all the data is secret. They absolutely will pump money into a "failure" because it's part of a larger strategy just as likely as they are to abruptly end a "success".

 

[feek61]

I'm going with 3 seasons unless the writing gets a lot better.

 

[Vger23]

I'm guessing 4.

They used DSC to successfully pilot Star Trek on CBSAA, but now that this is done, they'll begin looking for cheaper options with new formats to carry the torch and expand interest. Like all things Star Trek, they'll start looking for "how do we do more with less" and start to get really economical.

And honestly, that would be a great run.

 

[eschaton]

I'm guessing 4.

They used DSC to successfully pilot Star Trek on CBSAA, but now that this is done, they'll begin looking for cheaper options with new formats to carry the torch and expand interest. Like all things Star Trek, they'll start looking for "how do we do more with less" and start to get really economical.

And honestly, that would be a great run.

As long as they're stuck in the paradigm that "all Star Trek must be serialized" I think it makes sense to cycle through shows much more quickly than was the case in the past. I mean Kurtzman certainly seems to believe that each Trek needs to specialize in just one kind of story, which means if you're locked in for seven seasons with four shows it's going to be quite a long time before some of Trek's storytelling versatility is executed.