Spoilers Section 31 General Discussion Thread

[Tuskin38]

but Kurtzman isn't in the driver seat anymore

Stop believing those bullshit rumours. He's still the head of all Trek. His contract lasts until 2026.

Paramount has a deal with bad robot

Bad Robot has nothing to do with Kurtzman's TV shows.
Bad Robot is JJ Abrams. Kurtzman's production company is Secret Hideout.

The words "Akiva" and "talented" do not belong in the same sentence together.

He brought us Strange New Worlds.

I just want him to take more of a back seat in terms of the creative end,

The only shows he ever had creative control over were Discovery and Picard Season 1.

the more talented Akiva and Matalas to create better shows.

You do know they were behind the terrible Picard Season 2 right?

 

[Omegaphallic]

Stop believing those bullshit rumours. He's still the head of all Trek. His contract lasts until 2026.


Bad Robot has nothing to do with Kurtzman's TV shows.
Bad Robot is JJ Abrams. Kurtzman's production company is Secret Hideout.


He brought us Strange New Worlds.


The only shows he ever had creative control over were Discovery and Picard Season 1.


You do know they were behind the terrible Picard Season 2 right?

And now Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. I'm guess SA not STSA for short.

 

[Omegaphallic]

Stop believing those bullshit rumours. He's still the head of all Trek. His contract lasts until 2026.


Bad Robot has nothing to do with Kurtzman's TV shows.
Bad Robot is JJ Abrams. Kurtzman's production company is Secret Hideout.


He brought us Strange New Worlds.


The only shows he ever had creative control over were Discovery and Picard Season 1.


You do know they were behind the terrible Picard Season 2 right?

Yep, mistakes got made and learned from. I believe folks can learn and evovle which is why I'm more hopeful about this new series, Starfleet Academy then many others.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Paramount has a deal with bad robot so Kurtman's name is still there, BUT they had him shift his focus to Clarence last year which likely helped give space to the more talented Akiva and Matalas to create better shows.

They just need a way to keep him distracted and away from any creative stuff on Star Trek.

So your telling me that Paramount re-signed a multi-million dollar 5 year contract with Kurtzman, but want to keep him 'distracted' and away from Star Trek but are letting him talk to various publication about Star Trek that he apparently is no longer involved with and also allowing him to not only produce non-trek content but trek content as well.

What is wrong with you?

 

[Omegaphallic]

So your telling me that Paramount re-signed a multi-million dollar 5 year contract with Kurtzman, but want to keep him 'distracted' and away from Star Trek but are letting him talk to various publication about Star Trek that he apparently is no longer involved with and also allowing him to not only produce non-trek content but trek content as well.

What is wrong with you?

its set in the Dis time jump century, its basically quantined from every era of Star Trek folks actually care about. Its the deal with the devil (metaphotically, I don't have the hate on for Kurtzman that some folks do) that likely gets us Star Trek Legacy. Its a deal I'm fine with. Hope its good, and they hire some hot actresses.

 

[fireproof78]

So your telling me that Paramount re-signed a multi-million dollar 5 year contract with Kurtzman, but want to keep him 'distracted' and away from Star Trek but are letting him talk to various publication about Star Trek that he apparently is no longer involved with and also allowing him to not only produce non-trek content but trek content as well.

What is wrong with you?

Wishful thinking. Kurtzman has done the unthinkable sin of making Trek that doesn't suit all tastes. And since tarvand feathering or tomatoes in the public square are no longer in vogue online theories are the next best thing.

Hope its good, and they hire some hot actresses.

Shallow but at least it's unfunny.

 

[Omegaphallic]

Wishful thinking. Kurtzman has done the unthinkable sin of making Trek that doesn't suit all tastes. And since tarvand feathering or tomatoes in the public square are no longer in vogue online theories are the next best thing.


Shallow but at least it's unfunny.

I don't hate Kurtzman, I respect his desire to test the boundries of what Star Trek could be, but I suspect he will stick to his era where he is freer from the demands of Star Trek canon to tell the kind of stories he likes.

I actually think this is a win for everyone because Kurtzman's in his era of Star Trek, were he has more space to tell his kind of story without harming star trek canon for eras most Star Trek fans care the most about, let Terry have the earlier time periods along with Akiva, and Kurtzman gets his 32th century to experiment in, everybody wins.

 

[fireproof78]

without harming star trek canon for

everybody wins.

The only way "everyone wins" is if people realize canon cannot be harmed. It's mutable.

If continuity bothers people that much then I think sticking with VHS are best bet. Life was easier with rewind.

 

[Omegaphallic]

The only way "everyone wins" is if people realize canon cannot be harmed. It's mutable.

If continuity bothers people that much then I think sticking with VHS are best bet. Life was easier with rewind.

Continuity matters for good story telling, you let go of continuity and stop caring, your story will quickly and increasingly make no sense and fall apart. I don't expect perfection, but it does matter.

 

[fireproof78]

Continuity matters for good story telling, you let go of continuity and stop caring, your story will quickly and increasingly make no sense and fall apart. I don't expect perfection, but it does matter.

It can matter.

It isn't the only thing that matters for good storytelling. Characters matter more to me than continuity.

I don't think anyone has stopped caring. I do know writers focus on different facets than us fans do.

 

[eschaton]

I can think of many ways that this can go wrong, and only a handful of ways it can go right, but I suppose we will wait and see.

One concern I have right off the bat is Starfleet Academy is supposed to be "the best and the brightest" and I'm concerned that they will instead want to have a "relatable" group of teens/early 20somethings. I'm not saying I don't want flawed characters - of course this is going to be a character focused show, and those characters need to have flaws. But I'm worried (particularly with the note in the announcement that characters as young as 16 will be included) that this will effectively be "space high school" when SA is supposed to be some combination of an Ivy League school and an elite military academy. Plenty of toxic elements work in this setting (hazing, stress over grades, competitiveness, etc.) but just plunking down regular teen drama would not.

It's going to be very difficult to find a balance between appealing to long-term Trek fans and the presumed audience here (teens I would guess) as well. Unless written in a very smart, multilayered way, teen drama is very repulsive for a lot of adults; it reminds us of the worst period of our lives, and the naivete and self-absorption of the teen characters can be grating. Which is why I think they're going to have to include some sort of Voldemort/Mind Flayer type thing to keep the legacy Trek fans tuning in as well.

Ultimately, the series is going to have to be a bit more than just a stock coming-of-age drama with Trek pasted on top in order for it to work out, IMHO. We will see what arrives.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I don't hate Kurtzman, I respect his desire to test the boundries of what Star Trek could be, but I suspect he will stick to his era where he is freer from the demands of Star Trek canon to tell the kind of stories he likes.

I actually think this is a win for everyone because Kurtzman's in his era of Star Trek, were he has more space to tell his kind of story without harming star trek canon for eras most Star Trek fans care the most about, let Terry have the earlier time periods along with Akiva, and Kurtzman gets his 32th century to experiment in, everybody wins.

“His era?” He’s the Grand Poobah of all Trek. Everyone reports to him. Terry, Akiva, Mike, the Hagemans, Michelle and newest hire Noga Landau. All eras are his eras. He has creator credits on all the live action shows. He might be a little more hands on in the development stage and early production. But it will probably be Landau and the other SFA producers running the show. I expect Newsome might even get a producer credit as writers tend to do.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

That Kurtzman is placed in some box is the same BS as Kathleen Kennedy been barred from involvement with any Star Wars series except the The Acolyte series. She’s the big boss just like Kurtzman is. It’s not how the entertainment industry works.

 

[Tuskin38]

Yep, mistakes got made and learned from. I

Except Picard Season 3 started filming before Season 2 aired and finished the same month it started airing. It wasn't the result of any fan feedback from Season 2.

from every era of Star Trek folks actually care about.

Discovery fans would disagree.

 

[fireproof78]

That Kurtzman is placed in some box is the same BS as Kathleen Kennedy been barred from involvement with any Star Wars series except the The Acolyte series. She’s the big boss just like Kurtzman is. It’s not how the entertainment industry works.

It's wishful thinking at best, like a form of anxiety management that if we simply put Kurtzman in a box then he can't possibly due harm to Trek.

Which sounds absurd but only if one thinks that Trek is not something that can be harmed in the first place. If not, it's just a cognitive dissonance as a defense mechanism against an unpleasant reality.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

It's wishful thinking at best, like a form of anxiety management that if we simply put Kurtzman in a box then he can't possibly due harm to Trek.

Which sounds absurd but only if one thinks that Trek is not something that can be harmed in the first place. If not, it's just a cognitive dissonance as a defense mechanism against an unpleasant reality.

That change is inevitable and trekkies will hate it are the true constants of the universe

 

[F. King Daniel]

Bad Robot has nothing to do with Kurtzman's TV shows

Shhhh, it's a secret deal and requires everything to be 25% different

 

[Noname Given]

Shhhh, it's a secret deal and requires everything to be 25% different

WHY would they make a deal with someone they fired (multiple times too, according to some Youtube sources...)

 

[Timofnine]

Bad Robot has nothing to do with Kurtzman's TV shows.
Bad Robot is JJ Abrams. Kurtzman's production company is Secret Hideout.

What about ‘Weed Road Productions’.

I think that TPTB are having a debate over which spin-off show to go for, Legacy or Section 31. They quite simply may not be able to make both and are trying to decide which show to make within their limited new budget restraints, they could all even be arguing with each other about it. This is what may be delaying any announcements beyond current shows and Starfleet Academy.

 

[Visitor1982]

Star Trek: Section 31 is finally happening, but not as a series (at least, not yet).

Paramount+ has ordered Section 31 as an original movie, with Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh set to reprise her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, a character she played in Star Trek: Discovery.

In the film, Georgiou “joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.” The project will be written by Craig Sweeny and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, both Discovery veterans.

“I’m beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I’ve loved for so long,” said Michelle Yeoh. “Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”

Executive producer Alex Kurtzman said: “All the way back in 2017, before the first season of Star Trek: Discovery had even aired, Michelle had the idea to do a spinoff for her character, Philippa Georgiou. She broke new ground as one of the first two women on screen in the pilot to usher in a new age of Trek, and now, six years later, Section 31 finally arrives on the heels of her latest groundbreaking win. Everyone on Team Trek couldn’t be more thrilled to have our legendary friend return home to us as we expand our storytelling into new and uncharted corners of the Trekverse. Long live Emperor Georgiou; long live Michelle Yeoh!”

“For years, we’ve been looking forward to Michelle Yeoh one day returning to Star Trek,” adds David Stapf, president of CBS Studios. “Her powerful performance as Captain and Emperor Georgiou was a pivotal moment for the return of the franchise, and her portrayal resonated with fans around the world in a multitude of ways.”

Section 31 has had a long voyage to a greenlight, having first entered talks in 2018. The project picked up steam in 2019 when it went into active development with Yeoh attached. Sometime after that, public statements about Section 31 seemed to get less optimistic, with Kurtzman having to reassure fans the project was “still very much alive.” Then in March, Yeoh won the Oscar for best actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once and suddenly Paramount+ looked like they might have missed an opportunity.

The news is the latest of Paramount+’s recent Star Trek moves. The streamer recently ordered a teen-centric Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series, as well as ended Picard (which airs its series finale this week), and announced Discovery will air its fifth and final season next year, while doubling down on more Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks (which were both renewed ahead of their upcoming season premieres).

Produced by CBS Studios, Section 31 will start production will later this year.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/star-trek-section-31-michelle-yeoh-movie-1235390046/