Hey All,

1) For those who aren't aware, the litigation that was thrown up in front of Star Trek: Axanar has been dropped, and a scaled-down version is going into production. This IMO is very uplifting news, as it restores focus on the original series canon and disregards the J.J. Abrams reboot.

Star Trek Axanar Wiki

"On January 20, 2017, the parties announced that the lawsuit had been settled, with Alec Peters and Axanar Productions promising to make "substantial changes" to "Axanar" and agreeing to abide by Paramount's and CBS' "Guidelines for Fan Films." Under the terms of the settlement, the filmmakers will be allowed to release two 15-minute movies, instead of their planned 90-minute feature. The films cannot be shown with ads."

2) Rumor has it that the new corporate (CBS) series Star Trek: Discovery is a shambles. Check it out, but keep a barf bag handy.

I submit that the smart thing to save the franchise would be to buy Axanar, hire the creative team behind it, and turn that into a regular series.

Well I'm excited.

Yeah...I'll stick with the movies.

Your loss.

Personally I'm hoping this series is a return to proper Trek, not the weak nonsense that is Abrams Trek or the offensively terrible trash we had with Enterprise. So far it looks like it might be.

Fine with me. People are allowed to enjoy different things. But as someone who's never been a Star Trek fan I've enjoyed all three movies with Beyond being my favorite.

same. as a non-trekkie I've enjoyed those movies as well.

I think those are the best production values I've seen in a TV show of this scope.

I will check this out, depending on episode count. I will probably at least watch the pilot.

What continuity is this set in?


Straight up!

Fair enough. They aren't bad (well the first and third weren't bad, I didn't like the second one). But as someone who has been a Trekkie for over 25 years they feel more like high budget fanfilms than real Star Trek. I've no problem with them beyond that though, and at least they don't disgrace the name Star Trek the way Enterprise did.

The original tv continuity, ten years before The Original Series.

That sure will be aesthetically jarring for the individual that wants to watch it chronologically some day.

Anybody else still watching this series? It got off to a weak start, but seems to be getting better. The first few episodes floundered, mainly because the redesigned "Klingons" are just awful. There are other flaws. The "spore tech" is lame, and certain characters could be shoved out an airlock, but the Mirror Universe story was genuinely fun overall, with terrific sets and costumes and some great acting by Michelle Yeoh. The teaser in the last scene of Season 1 makes the next season look much more appealing. It may not be authentic Star Trek, but in the absence of Axanar, I submit that it's a worthwhile fix for sci-fi aficionados.

I've watched it twice, and going through it a third time with my Trekker uncle who doesn't have Netflix. I have to disagree about the klingons, the new design is great, much more properly alien than crinkly foreheads. Discover is absolutely authentic Trek too, I'm not sure why people think it isn't. It's new and different, but the core ethos is still front and centre. I'm really excited for season two.

Really never understood why they had to redesign the Klingons in the Abrams movies or Discovery. The TMP/TNG designs were elaborate enough that they looked alien, and Vulcans have only ever really had pointy ears and funny haircuts to distinguish them from humans, and yet they never change them other than to maybe making them more pale and green-tinted.

Discovery overall would be better off if they just said it's 30 years after the TNG era or something, because at least that way, they could do whatever they want without stepping on the toes of the original continuity, and there would be no "why does everything look more advanced than TOS?".

Looking at this trailer, I was thinking that it's a darned shame that they didn't try harder to cast someone resembling actor Jeffrey Hunter more closely to play the role of Captain Pike, since Hunter defined the character for the Original Series. Thinking that this might be a deliberate decision, part of the agenda spearheaded by Abrams and Kurtzman essentially to snub fans of the original franchise while replacing it with something else, I took to YouTube and found some videos that corroborate my theory. It seems the goal going forward is to go out even further on a limb with some kind of weird hybrid universe where nothing is left from the old, authentic Star Trek, taking the implicit 'F You' message for the old fanbase to a new level. (The return of Patrick Stewart might herald something similar to what we experienced with Mark Hamill in Star Wars.) As an Original Universe loyalist, I feel really bad about what's happening and see the people in charge making decisions that could kill the franchise. Star Trek Discovery is on borrowed time: if the writers don't return to first principles soon, this coming season could be the end.

A lot of unpopular design decisions were made in this series, let's put it that way. Pike looking somewhat different, like a younger Mitt Romney, is actually one of the more orthodox recasts I thought, given what else is going on with the Klingons, for instance.

You know, it's hard to tell if this series is more popular than "Enterprise" was over a decade ago. I dunno if it's possible to compare TV broadcast numbers with these on-demand numbers, as this is a self-selecting audience. The older Trek fans who grew up on TNG are not especially enthused about the series, from what I've heard from friends.

No, it isn't hard. Discovery is extremely popular and CBS credit it with a better than expected CBS All Access launch, and it's just recently been recognised as one of the top five most in demand streamed tv shows and the only one not on Netflix.

Don't make the mistake of thinking people whining on the internet makes something unpopular.

I grew up on TNG and I love Discovery. My mother grew up with TOS and has been a lifelong Trekkie and she loves Discovery. My uncle too. I'm not going to claim based on that anecdotal evidence that older fans universally love Discovery, but you can't claim they aren't enthused for it based on anecdotal accounts either.

There seems to have been a marked lightening of the overall tone of the show in season 2, especially with the addition of Christopher Pike. Some of the problems from the first season carry over. But, it’s good to see that they’re actively trying to improve on that stuff.

I hope our hosts don't mind if I link to the YouTube channel for Axanar. There are some fantastic "Making Of" videos getting posted right now, as filming / shooting is in progress, but I want to draw special attention to the VFX playlist (scroll halfway down the page).

The premier screening of the finished product is booked for San Diego Comic Con (July 2020).

STAR TREK: AXANAR (YOUTUBE CHANNEL)

More here, on the blog (scroll down):

https://axanarproductions.com/