On the heels of her role in Season 1 of the CBS All Access series “Star Trek: Discovery” and her role in the hit film “Crazy Rich Asians,” TrekMovie.com (via Deadline) reports that Michelle Yeoh (Wai Lin in “Tomorrow Never Dies”) is in discussions to reprise her role as the Mirror Universe (read: Evil) version of her Discovery character in a new series to also be produced for CBS All Access.
As the project has not yet been green-lit, it is not known if it will be a full series or a mini-series.
An interesting development. Discovery was a controversial series among Star Trek fans and while I’m definitely on the more casual end of the fandom spectrum I really enjoyed it. Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Georgiou was one of the highlights (along with Jason Isaacs’s glorious scenery chewing) and her story after she left the Discovery could certainly be one worth telling.
Agreed, odd_jobbies. Focus on Discovery and…maybe…the Picard series, perhaps even “Lower Decks” (the animated series from the “Rick and Morty” people) before working on this Mirror Georgiou-Section 31 thing.
DIscovery won’t be lasting for much longer. The ‘short treks’ are disappointing test and regular audiences, and with the supporting management totally gone, Discovery is all but cancelled.
In fact, with the new CBS plan to spin-off a few more Star Trek shows DISCOVERY is a main flagship for them, and they will move forward with it unless the subscription for that channel goes down dramatically.
Also, with a Netflix deal in place for the outside US-audience, they have a partner who is interested in a long running show - especially with a brand like Star Trek.
Netflix are proving that they’re not afraid to cancel shows (Iron Fist, Cage and probably Daredevil next), so dropping this probably won’t be an issue for them if their gauge of measuring web chat about it dwindles.
I think much rests upon how that web chat reacts to the nth enterprise crew reboot of spock and pike and how often they feature. Now they’ve intro’d them fans will cry if they don’t appear often enough, yet if it’s that often then is it still ‘Discovery’? Tricky corner they’re in.
But if they can keep the writing up to the quality of Discovery season 1’s second half, then i’ll root for it.
So let me presume something, odd_jobbies, and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong: you think that if it doesn’t do well, Netflix would pull it’s support and leave CBS high and dry. And if that happens, CBS might cancel Disco. Am I right?
Netflix cancels shows which do not do anything for them.
BUT…
They have quietly bought the rights to offer ALL Star Trek shows in their portfolio. Even the Animated Star Trek Show from the 70´s.
Trust me, they will keep on airing DISCOVERY and all the other new shows, as long as there is in interest in Star Trek. They will not shrug one of them off.
And let’s not forget: despite the usual disgruntled fanboy rumblings on the internet, DISCOVERY was a great way to get subscribers for CBS access. And it worked for them so well that the honchos thought: let’s get more Star Trek on!
DISCOVERY’s main problem in my view was not that it struck a different tone to the whole series or the numerous inconsistencies with Trek lore; the rebooted films did much the same and were successful enough…for a time.
The thing that sent the fans spinning in their fora was that it all was absurdly stuffed into prequel territory instead of its own period setting. Many a shitstorm could have been avoided if the production had simply taken its freedom and ran with it. As things are now there will be a constant opposition by the older fanbase against the efforts of CBS and Netflix, while a new generation of fans are happy enough with the show.
Tbh, I guess I’m not a fan of this webchat monitoring way of judging a show’s longevity. I imagine it’ll make writing an even harder task when producers are demanding the inclusion of things that initiate such webchat.
I’m not predicting that it will happen - I just fear it might.
What Netflix does about season 4 of Daredevil will speak volumes, since imo season 3 was excellent and justifies another spin of the wheel. If they cancel it because the webchat figures aren’t as high as previous seasons and dump it, then I fear for well written and made drama that doesn’t excite the social media addicted millenials.
You do say webchat killed Luke Cage and Iron Fist, but I will point out Disney is launching its own streaming service complete with Marvel tv shows (Loki being the first off the bench), and, if you were in Marvel’s place, would you make series for your competition?
Indeed, I’m sure the cancellations aren’t for any one reason, but a coinciding of circumstance, such as Disney’s own streaming options.
But for me it’s disturbing if Netflix are using web monitoring to rate their shows, as reports like this suggest could be the case:
…“Consumer-insights” company called Crimson Hexagon (via Business Insider) that points to some more social media stats that could highlight just how Netflix makes its decisions regarding renewing or canceling a series.
The report states that the difference in social media chatter on Twitter and Instagram declined dramatically between seasons 1 and 2 of both “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist.” The first series that was canceled,
If these are credible stats and if streaming platforms take such figures seriously, then would Marvel/Disney really want to exclusively take on production and streaming of these dwindling shows?
The fans may be holding out for a Disney rescue, but it’s far from guaranteed.
My point was that if these stats are indeed the new way of judging a show’s success, then we’re about to see a decline in writing, with producers pandering to social media with stories that revolve around millennial flashpoint topics, rather than character; even more burden placed upon the writer to include everything scoring high on social media at any given time.
Hopefully the likes of HBO and Showtime resist this form of monitoring.
That seems like a slow news day so going for the old standby of trying to make Netflix fit in the Nielsen ratings model of Overnights, demographics and ads tailored for “the all important 18-49 market” (the age group that has proven they will LITERALLY give you money so they don’t have to watch ads)
None of those things actually matter for Netflix or any streaming service as that’s not how the service works, something articles like that know but choose to ignore when it’s a slow news day and they have space to fill.
Basically “Netflix ratings” is to entertainment sites what “Everything that I didn’t watch/read/hear when I was 12 is crap, people who make things don’t want to do it!” is for this forum. Just what happens when there is nothing to actually talk about.
Actually, why would any streaming service care much about webchat? They all have a much better tool to measure success of their product: they know what and when their subscribers watch, down to the second and with pauses; they know what their subscribers search for and even what their subscribers watch on other platforms up to a point. As an analysis tool this is easily the very best data pool you could ever wish for.
Social media interest - the part of it that isn’t already directed by multipliers, professional influence campaigns and such - is a much cruder and less effective indicator. Seriously, the only real use of such monitoring would come into play when judging potential of new productions. Beyond that, when the product is already available on screen, there are simply the figures they already have in their database. No further need for social media interest.