Should TOS characters be seen or referred to?

[seigezunt]

Dangerously approaches the kind of small universe and fanwank stuff that drives away new viewers (and is the stuff of fan films), but if they could do it in a way where it doesn't matter that you know the back story (see: the easter eggs in Beyond) then I would not oppose it, and probably would drool over it. I think it would be easier to use minor characters that we don't have a lot of expectations about how they "really" are. If indeed the Number One is THE Number One, that's a good example. Maybe characters that were TOS one-offs: Daystrom, Boyce, Finney, etc. But not characters like Mudd, as much as I'd love it.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

Well if DSC takes place in 2255 (10 years before the Five Year Mission), then Pike is captain of the Enterprise at the time. I wouldn't mind seeing Pike and Number One make a guest appearance at some point. Again, obviously it will need to serve a good story and not just be pure fan service. But sometimes I like a little fan service. Even a passing reference to Pike and the Enterprise would put a smile on my face.

 

[dtmaven]

Admiral Komack, and various other Admirals or Commodores, might not be too "all in the family". Maybe they could even show Admiral Nogura, canonize Heihachiro as his first name.

I'd probably be okay with a brief appearance from someone like Emony Dax or maybe even Travis Mayweather, T'Pol, or Number One, just for the traditional hand-off from a character from a previous series. Or perhaps we could even see a very young version of Scotty leaving the Discovery at the end of his cadet cruise, before the action begins for the series. But beyond something like that (which would really pretty much *have* to be Scotty because of age and the fact that we already know that Spock and McCoy wouldn't have been there), I'd like them to leave the TOS crew out of the new show.

Except for T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) the crew from Enterprise would either be dead or too old... STD takes place about 100 years or so after Enterprise, which would make T'Pol a very old Vulcan, but still functional.

 

[Kor]

There should be name-dropping in every episode. No, every scene.

Kor

 

[BillJ]

There should be name-dropping in every episode. No, every scene.

Kor

Number One: Captain, we have a disturbance, James Kirk, at bearing 344 mark, Spock, 78. At warp six, Bones, we will arrive in, Lt. Uhura, 6.6 hours.

 

[Tim Thomason]

"Captain's log, Stardate 2255.05. We're entering orbit around Archer IV. Our rendezvous with Ambassador T'Pol of the USS Mayweather is scheduled for 1500 hours, onboard the shuttlecraft Novakovich, outside of Starbase 47. In the meantime, I will enjoy my vintage 2151 Chateau Picard wine, which I bought off my close friend Flint. My Number One, unrelated to the Number One on Captain Pike's ship - I forget the name, has informed me of the recent death of General Shran. I must write a letter of condolences to his godson, Heiachiro Nogura. I will ask my friend Keenser and Yeoman Giotto, to assist in composing the right words.

Not since the days of Balthazar Edison and Bryce Shumar, has a Captain been so burdened with such heavy matters. Decker out."

 

[Gojira]

I think it is a good idea to reference or include the original characters or others that were in the original series. In fact, I'm counting on it!!

 

[Mr Awe]

I think it would be really cool to see younger versions of the TOS characters. Preferably they'd find a way to include them in a good story that warranted their appearance.

Mr Awe

 

[Nerys Myk]

"Captain's log, Stardate 2255.05. We're entering orbit around Archer IV. Our rendezvous with Ambassador T'Pol of the USS Mayweather is scheduled for 1500 hours, onboard the shuttlecraft Novakovich, outside of Starbase 47. In the meantime, I will enjoy my vintage 2151 Chateau Picard wine, which I bought off my close friend Flint. My Number One, unrelated to the Number One on Captain Pike's ship - I forget the name, has informed me of the recent death of General Shran. I must write a letter of condolences to his godson, Heiachiro Nogura. I will ask my friend Keenser and Yeoman Giotto, to assist in composing the right words.

Not since the days of Balthazar Edison and Bryce Shumar, has a Captain been so burdened with such heavy matters. Decker out."

I think the other nominees for Best Writing For A Drama Series should just stay home next year.

 

[Shalashaska]

I'd like to see a few old characters later on down the line.

 

[Kevin Wolff]

I think just referring to other characters like Pike and the Enterprise is enough at first. They need to do their own world-building and species development before bringing in any familiar faces.

I was thinking about Spock's mom. I thought I remember from one of the Star Trek novels (Spock's World I think) where they said she was involved in some way with the development of the universal translator. I know the books aren't canon, and Ent made Sato responsible for the early translator development, so who knows.

 

[Mudd]

Fuller's made it pretty clear that he views the cast of the current movies as the accepted casting for the TOS characters, saying that he might like to have Ryder playing Spock's mother at some point.

 

[Kevin Wolff]

Especially since they offed her after a few minutes of screen time. There was no development or noticeable character traits that might run counter to what they want to do with Amanda on DSC.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Except for T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) the crew from Enterprise would either be dead or too old... STD takes place about 100 years or so after Enterprise, which would make T'Pol a very old Vulcan, but still functional.

104 years, I believe, from the beginning of Enterprise to the beginning of Discovery. Travis was 25 at the beginning of Enterprise, which would make him 129 at the beginning of Discovery. Hoshi was 22, so she'd be 126. Either would still be more than a decade younger than McCoy in "Encounter at Farpoint". And we don't know how long Phlox would live, but Denobulans were described as very long-lived, and they had advanced medical knowledge and technology.

I was thinking about Spock's mom.

Winona Ryder.

Oh, wait. Sorry. Go on.

I thought I remember from one of the Star Trek novels (Spock's World I think) where they said she was involved in some way with the development of the universal translator. I know the books aren't canon, and Ent made Sato responsible for the early translator development, so who knows.

Amanda was working on a project to *update* the way Vulcan was translated because people were convinced that some of the concepts weren't coming across properly. The difference between c'thia and "logic" being one of the main ones the book focused on.

So believe it or not, this was actually one of the places that (far superior) book and Enterprise *didn't* contradict one another.

Especially since they offed her after a few minutes of screen time. There was no development or noticeable character traits that might run counter to what they want to do with Amanda on DSC.

Well, also, that was the version of Amanda from an alternate (Kelvin) timeline, so even if they had had her as a double-fisted drinking goth belly dancer there, it wouldn't bear on the version of her that would be on Discovery.

 

[Kevin Wolff]

Amanda was working on a project to *update* the way Vulcan was translated because people were convinced that some of the concepts weren't coming across properly. The difference between c'thia and "logic" being one of the main ones the book focused on.

So believe it or not, this was actually one of the places that (far superior) book and Enterprise *didn't* contradict one another.

Well, also, that was the version of Amanda from an alternate (Kelvin) timeline, so even if they had had her as a double-fisted drinking goth belly dancer there, it wouldn't bear on the version of her that would be on Discovery.

Yes, that sounds familiar. the actual translation for logic meaning reality-truth. I only read 3 TOS books. My Enemy, My Ally, The Romulan Way, and Spock's world, but it was ages ago.

Reading about Brannon Braga in the 50-year mission vol2, and by his own admission he didn't care about continuity and thought the idea of treating scifi like legitimate drama was absurd. He believed it was a storytelling device to do wacky adventure stories is kind of how he put it. He was antithesis to Ronald D. Moore who treated it exactly like legitimate drama, and had respect for the existing continuity (and past). This is how badly Enterprise was executed, that they didn't put the right people in place to create a show that falls apart if continuity is ignored. Then how do we get here from there.

All of the series' best seasons have one thing in common. The writing staff was solid whether larger or smaller, and the producer was way above par, if not excellent.

Agreed about we fans not confusing her with the other timeline, but since she appeared so recently, and DSC needs to attract the casual viewer, it might seem confusing. But she's a good actress and was Hollywood A-list 25 years ago, so I wouldn't mind seeing her develop the role of Amanda.

 

[Mudd]

Treating skiffy entertainment like "legitimate drama" is beside the point.

More importantly, who the fuck is Bryce Shumar?

 

[Jesse1066]

Call me crazy, but I think Bruce Willis would make a good Matt Decker. (With a wig, obviously)

 

[Tim Thomason]

Treating skiffy entertainment like "legitimate drama" is beside the point.

More importantly, who the fuck is Bryce Shumar?

The whole point of my joke was to insert some obvious and some obscure references into a Captain's log. You can look him up, if you seriously don't know who Shumar is for some reason (although I think you're pulling my leg, Mr. Bailey), but I think Nogura, Starbase 47 and Novakovich were far more obscure references than Shumar (who was sorta, kinda, the main antagonist of a pretty memorable TNG episode).

 

[CaptainMurdock]

It would be nice to see the one and done characters from The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before in some form or another. But I wouldn't reference Kirk or the TOS crew as it would cast a really big shadow in my opinion.

 

[jaime]

Of an originally introduced well-liked, enduring, major, live-action character that has been quickly recast as a well-liked, enduring, major, live-action character, the only one I can think of, outside of TOS, is Paul McCartney, who was recast as "Paul McCartney." (Only we old guys know about this. Right, Dennis?). In most other recasts, the characters were originally introduced in other sources (James Bond), introduced but forgotten (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), recast and quickly forgotten (most old TV series made into movies), were not very important anyway (Darren on Bewitched, the youngest brother on The Partridge Family), or were recast over a long time in a reboot series (Starbuck in BSG). Sara Connor has been played by 3 different actresses, but I never saw the series, and the movie for the third Sara sucked.

If any of the TOS characters, even the major ones, appear in the new series, I don't mind if they're recast. I think that the actors since 2009 have taken us far enough away from the original cast of 50 years ago, regardless of whether you, for some reason, insist that the new movies have "destroyed your childhood." If a character has appeared only once in TOS, I almost hope the character is recast.

And then there's Ziyal and Alexander.

I am with you on this though, I think.