John Eaves Confirms CBS Licensing Entanglements

[PicardSpeedo]

Title says it all. In an April social media post, John Eaves confirmed that the look & feel of Star Trek: Discovery had to be modified to meet the conditions of the ridiculous licensing situation that CBS has gotten into with themselves - to such an extent that the design of the USS Enterprise seen in the final moments of the season finale also had to change.

You can read all about it here: https://io9.gizmodo.com/star-trek-discoverys-version-of-the-enterprise-had-to-1825276401.

 

[XCV330]

this was discussed quite a bit awhile back.

 

[PicardSpeedo]

It must not have gotten much attention. I'm still getting "OMGWTFBBQ NOOB U R TEH DUMB THERE IS NO PROBLEM" replies whenever I mention this issue, so I don't think it's terribly injurious to reiterate it.

 

[Kemaiku]

this was discussed quite a bit awhile back.

At length, in about two threads.

 

[PicardSpeedo]

At length, in about two threads.

See previous reply. I can cite posts in the last month where I got totally flamed for even suggesting that this was a thing. Hopefully reminding people that it actually is will settle some interpersonal quarrels about the matter.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Old news, since clarified by CBS.

Sadly, John didn't know why he was doing what he was told to do.

 

[Mudd]

Old news, since clarified by CBS.

Not so much "clarified" as contradicted or denied.

“After Enterprise, properties of Star Trek ownership changed hands and was divided,, so what was able to cross TV shows up to that point changed and a lot of the crossover was no longer allowed,” he said. “That is why when JJ [Abrams]’s movie came along everything had to be different. The alternate universe concept was what really made that movie happen in a way as to not cross the new boundaries and give Trek a new footing to continue.”

Well, sure - if someone paid money to license, say, the toy rights for the TOS Enterprise for ten years or so...why would CBS want to re-use that design in STD? A significantly different design means the toy rights for the STD Enterprise can be sold as a separate license.

 

[Noname Given]

Title says it all. In an April social media post, John Eaves confirmed that the look & feel of Star Trek: Discovery had to be modified to meet the conditions of the ridiculous licensing situation that CBS has gotten into with themselves - to such an extent that the design of the USS Enterprise seen in the final moments of the season finale also had to change.

You can read all about it here: https://io9.gizmodo.com/star-trek-discoverys-version-of-the-enterprise-had-to-1825276401.

Welcome to 3 months ago. Already clarified and debunked. They have (and had) full rights to use the original design had the production team wanted to.

 

[dahj]

I feel this thread is going to be 25% lamer than the last one...

 

[Lord Garth]

John Eaves: "I was just told to redesign a ship!"

The End

It must not have gotten much attention. I'm still getting "OMGWTFBBQ NOOB U R TEH DUMB THERE IS NO PROBLEM" replies whenever I mention this issue, so I don't think it's terribly injurious to reiterate it.

The posters here now are the same posters as before. Thus reiterating won't get you the result you're looking for if you were hoping for something different besides what's already been said.

 

[StalwartUK]

Welcome to 3 months ago. Already clarified and debunked. They have (and had) full rights to use the original design had the production team wanted to.

Wasn't it more of a case that CBS could if they had wanted to but mandated changes so they could sell separate STD licenses?

 

[Noname Given]

Wasn't it more of a case that CBS could if they had wanted to but mandated changes so they could sell separate STD licenses?

I don't think CBS 'mandated' anything. It was the production team's choice to not use the original design because they didn't think it was appealing to current/modern audiences.
^^^
It's a decision I don't care for as to this day, I find nothing wrong/'primitive' about the original 1701 design (and I thought it looked great in the ENT - "In A Mirror Darkly" episodes; but that's me.)

 

[Lord Garth]

I don't think CBS 'mandated' anything. It was the production team's choice to not use the original design because they didn't think it was appealing to current/modern audiences.
^^^
It's a decision I don't care for as to this day, I find nothing wrong/'primitive' about the original 1701 design (and I thought it looked great in the ENT - "In A Mirror Darkly" episodes; but that's me.)

I don't have a problem with the TOS Enterprise either but it doesn't look like it fits in with the aesthetic they already have for DSC. On DS9 and ENT, they could get away with showing the TOS Enterprise as was because they could say "It was a different time! That's just how it looked in the 2260s." In DSC, you can't do that because it's supposed to be the same time. The Enterprise has to look like it's from the same era as Discovery. So that's why they had to make the changes. From a pragmatic standpoint.

Not to say that you're wrong. They probably also thought it wouldn't appeal to modern audiences, but I think there was more to it than that. Then there's the corporate viewpoint of "So they can sell new models!", which is also true.

So there were different factors.

 

[Noname Given]

I don't have a problem with the TOS Enterprise either but it doesn't look like it fits in with the aesthetic they already have for DSC. On DS9 and ENT, they could get away with showing the TOS Enterprise as was because they could say "It was a different time! That's just how it looked in the 2260s." In DSC, you can't do that because it's supposed to be the same time. The Enterprise has to look like it's from the same era as Discovery. So that's why they had to make the changes. From a pragmatic standpoint.

Not to say that you're wrong. They probably also thought it wouldn't appeal to modern audiences, but I think there was more to it than that. Then there's the corporate viewpoint of "So they can sell new models!", which is also true.

So there were different factors.

And I don't hate the updated design totally. My largest gripe was the 'split warp nacelle struts' - had they been one piece struts I would have really liked it. Hell, I wish they had come up with and used the ST: D 1701 design for the JJ-Verse films starting back in 2009.

 

[Red Panda]

Also if CBS merges with say Hasbro or they work more together as a result of the board changes, there is no way in hell they'll ever mass produce kids action figures based on the TOS design. With the new movies being basically dead, the only solution is what they did.

DSC is current CBS's first in-house Star Trek project. They clearly wanted their own Enterprise.

 

[Dukhat]

John Eaves tends not to know what he’s talking about most of the time.

 

[fireproof78]

I like both Enterprises

I don't care about the BTS reasons behind the changes.

 

[cultcross]

At length, in about two threads.

Indeed. This topic was covered, and turned out to be wrong.