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"The Vulcan Hello" is the
series premiere A series premiere is the first aired installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. In the United States, many series premieres are aired in the fall time or, for mid-season replacements, either in the spring or ...
of the American television series '' Star Trek: Discovery'', which is set roughly a decade before the events of the original ''Star Trek'' series and shows the beginnings of the
Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
cold war. It was written by
Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client (1994 film), The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman ...
and
Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the television series ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009) and ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'' (2013–2015). Fuller is also known for his work as a writ ...
, from a story by series creators Fuller and
Alex Kurtzman Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers'' (2007), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)'', ''Star Trek'' (2009), ''Star Trek Into Darkness ...
, and was directed by
David Semel David Semel is an American film and television director and producer. Semel joined the Directors Guild of America in 1989. His television directing credits include ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', ''Person of Interest'', ''Ally McBeal'', ''Bo ...
.
Sonequa Martin-Green Sonequa Chaunté Martin-Green (; Martin; born March 21, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Michael Burnham, the main character in the streaming television series '' Star Trek: Discovery'', and as Sasha ...
stars as
Michael Burnham Michael Burnham is the protagonist of '' Star Trek: Discovery'', portrayed by American actress Sonequa Martin-Green. She originally appears as the First Officer of USS ''Shenzhou'' under Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) until she commits mu ...
, the First Officer of the USS ''Shenzhou''. Series regular Doug Jones also appears in the episode, the first in the series' two-part premiere that act as a prologue to the rest of the series. Guest starring for the two-part premiere are
Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...
as Philippa Georgiou, captain of the ''Shenzhou'', and Chris Obi as Klingon leader T'Kuvma. Filming took place at
Pinewood Toronto Studios Pinewood Toronto Studios (formerly known as ''Filmport'') is a major film and television studio complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is the largest of its kind in Canada. It is the first in Toronto capable of accommodating the production of ...
, on location in
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, and at
Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio i ...
. The episode aired on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
on September 24, 2017, in a special preview broadcast, before being released on the streaming service
CBS All Access Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily ...
(along with the second episode, and the rest of the series in subsequent weeks). The episode was seen by 9.5 million viewers on CBS, and led to record subscriptions for All Access. It received positive reviews, particularly for Martin-Green's performance, though some of the writing was criticized.


Plot

A group of
Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
s rally around their leader, T'Kuvma, who follows the teachings of the ancient Klingon leader
Kahless Kahless "The Unforgettable" is a fictional character from the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He was displayed as a portrait in '' Star Trek: The Original Series'' by Robert Herron and in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' by Kevin Conway; an ...
, and preaches against the actions of the
United Federation of Planets In the fictional universe of ''Star Trek'', the United Federation of Planets (UFP) is the interstellar government with which, as part of its space force Starfleet, most of the characters and starships of the franchise are affiliated. Commonly re ...
. On a relatively primitive planet, Captain Philippa Georgiou and First Officer
Michael Burnham Michael Burnham is the protagonist of '' Star Trek: Discovery'', portrayed by American actress Sonequa Martin-Green. She originally appears as the First Officer of USS ''Shenzhou'' under Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) until she commits mu ...
of the USS ''Shenzhou'' open a well, and enable the planet's residents to survive a coming 89-year drought. On Stardate 1207.3 (May 11, 2256), the crew of the ''Shenzhou'' investigate a damaged interstellar relay in deep space and discover an unidentified object. Without a clear reading of the object, cautious Kelpien Science Officer Saru advises leaving the area. Burnham disagrees, and dons a space suit to investigate in spite of the dangerous radiation from a nearby
binary star A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved as separate stars us ...
system. She finds the object to be covered in ancient carvings, and guarded by an armed Klingon. The Klingon attacks, and when she uses her suit to escape she accidentally kills him. Burnham later awakens aboard the ''Shenzhou'' being treated for acute
radiation sickness Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start wit ...
. The Klingons hold a memorial service for their dead comrade, a "Torchbearer". Burnham warns Georgiou of her encounter with the Klingon, and though Saru suggests that she is confused due to her injuries, Georgiou believes her and locks weaponry on the object. T'Kuvma was expecting this, and reveals their cloaked vessel. The Klingons debate attacking the Federation ship, but T'Kuvma is looking to fulfill an ancient prophecy by having the Torchbearer light a beacon and unite the great Klingon houses. Voq, an outcast with no house of his own, volunteers to be the new Torchbearer, and "lights the beacon", sending light and signals from the carved object.
Starfleet Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduct ...
orders the ''Shenzhou'' to wait until reinforcements arrive. Burnham contacts her adoptive father
Sarek Sarek is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock. The character was originally played by Mark Lenard in the epi ...
, who believes that the Klingons must have a new leader who could be looking to bring order to the Klingon Empire, which has been in disarray for centuries. He also explains that his species earned the respect of the Klingons by firing on them first whenever they met. Burnham recommends this action to Georgiou, but the captain refuses. Burnham disables Georgiou with a
Vulcan nerve pinch In the fictional ''Star Trek'' universe, the Vulcan nerve pinch is a fictional technique used mainly by Vulcan (Star Trek), Vulcans to render unconsciousness by pinching a pressure point at the base of the victim's neck. Origin The script for " ...
and takes command of the ship, ordering an attack on the Klingon vessel. Georgiou recovers in time to stop the attack, just as several more Klingon vessels arrive.


Production


Development

On November 2, 2015,
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
announced a new ''Star Trek'' television series to premiere in January 2017, "on the heels" of the original series' 50th anniversary in 2016. In February 2016,
Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American writer and producer, best known for creating the television series ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009) and ''Hannibal (TV series), Hannibal'' (2013–2015). Fuller is also known for his work as a writ ...
was announced as the new series'
showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...
and co-creator alongside
Alex Kurtzman Alexander Hilary Kurtzman (born September 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing the scripts to ''Transformers'' (2007), '' Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)'', ''Star Trek'' (2009), ''Star Trek Into Darkness ...
. In July, at ''Star Trek''s 50th anniversary
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
panel, Fuller announced the series' title to be ''Star Trek: Discovery''. At the end of that month, CBS hired
David Semel David Semel is an American film and television director and producer. Semel joined the Directors Guild of America in 1989. His television directing credits include ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', ''Person of Interest'', ''Ally McBeal'', ''Bo ...
, a veteran television procedural director who was under an overall deal with the studio, to direct the first episode of ''Discovery''. This was a decision that Fuller was not happy with, believing that Semel "was wrong for the job". Fuller wanted a more visionary director, and had personally reached out to
Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...
to direct the episode before CBS hired Semel. As development and pre-production continued, Fuller and Semel "clashed" on the direction of the show. By August 2016, Fuller had hired Gretchen J. Berg and
Aaron Harberts Aaron Harberts (born January 20, 1973) is an American television writer and producer. He was a co-showrunner of CBS's '' Star Trek: Discovery'' with Gretchen J. Berg until their departure in June 2018. Harberts and Berg have been writing/producin ...
, who he had worked with on ''
Pushing Daisies ''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to lif ...
'', to serve as co-showrunners with him. A month later, Fuller and Kurtzman had asked CBS to delay the series' release so they could meet the high expectations for the series, and the studio announced that the series premiere had been pushed back to May 2017. At the end of October, CBS asked Fuller to step down as showrunner, with Berg and Harberts being made sole showrunners and working off of a broad story arc and overall mythology established by Fuller. In June 2017, CBS announced a new premiere date of September 24. On September 18, CBS revealed that the first episode would be titled "The Vulcan Hello".


Writing

The teleplay for the episode was written by Fuller and supporting producer
Akiva Goldsman Akiva Goldsman (born July 7, 1962) is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. Goldsman's filmography as a screenwriter includes ''The Client (1994 film), The Client''; ''Batman Forever'' and its sequel ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman ...
, based on a story by Fuller and Kurtzman. The title refers to a story told by the character
Sarek Sarek is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock. The character was originally played by Mark Lenard in the epi ...
to the protagonist
Michael Burnham Michael Burnham is the protagonist of '' Star Trek: Discovery'', portrayed by American actress Sonequa Martin-Green. She originally appears as the First Officer of USS ''Shenzhou'' under Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) until she commits mu ...
, explaining that Vulcans earned the respect of the
Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
s by greeting them in their own "language", by firing weapons on sight. The episode serves as the first of the season's two-part prologue, exploring Burnham's initial actions on board the USS ''Shenzhou'' and her relationship with Captain Philippa Georgiou. The writers structured the season this way to avoid having to reveal this information in flashbacks during later events. It was important for Fuller and Kurtzman, when they were developing the story of the episode, to "present both sides of the argument" by exploring both the Starfleet and Klingon perspectives, with the conflict taking inspiration from a global trend of
isolationism Isolationism is a term used to refer to a political philosophy advocating a foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality an ...
. This episode ends with a cliffhanger, which CBS hoped would make viewers want to immediately start streaming the second episode.


Casting

The series stars
Sonequa Martin-Green Sonequa Chaunté Martin-Green (; Martin; born March 21, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Michael Burnham, the main character in the streaming television series '' Star Trek: Discovery'', and as Sasha ...
as Burnham, Doug Jones as Saru, Shazad Latif as Ash Tyler,
Anthony Rapp Anthony Deane Rapp (born October 26, 1971) is an American actor and singer who originated the role of Mark Cohen in the Broadway theatre, Broadway production of ''Rent (musical), Rent''. Following his original performance of the role in 1996, he ...
as Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly, and
Jason Isaacs Jason Isaacs (born 6 June 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of D.J. in ''Event Horizon'' (1997), Ronald Quincy in ''Armageddon'' (1998), Colonel William Tavington in '' The Patriot'' (2000), Michael D. Steele in '' ...
as Gabriel Lorca; only Martin-Green and Jones appear in this episode. In November 2016, series' writer and consulting producer
Nicholas Meyer Nicholas Meyer (born December 24, 1945) is an American screenwriter, director and author known for his best-selling novel '' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'', and for directing the films '' Time After Time'', two of the ''Star Trek'' feature films, ...
mentioned that
Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...
had been cast in ''Discovery'', and she was soon confirmed to be portraying Captain Georgiou of the USS ''Shenzhou''. Yeoh described the character as an explorer who "loved the universe" and particularly "the possibility of seeing new stars", but also someone who "has seen the horrors of war". She felt that though the relationship between Georgiou and Burnham was professional, it was also "multilayered" and included a "mother/daughter" dynamic. Yeoh chose to retain her Chinese Malaysian accent for the role, and also chose her own decorations for Georgiou's ready room, including Malaysian puppets and a bottle of Chateau Picard wine (a reference to Captain
Jean-Luc Picard Jean-Luc Picard is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, most often seen as the commanding officer of the Federation starship . Played by Patrick Stewart, Picard has appeared in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Gene ...
of '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''). Three actors were cast as Klingons in December 2016: Latif as Kol, before he was recast to the role of Tyler; Chris Obi as T'Kuvma; and Mary Chieffo as L'Rell. For the scenes where he had to speak the
Klingon language The Klingon language (, ''Klingon scripts, '': , ) is the constructed language spoken by a fictional alien race called the Klingons in the ''Star Trek'' universe. Described in the 1985 book ''The Klingon Dictionary'' by Marc Okrand and delibe ...
, Obi was inspired by Martin-Green who told him that the language was "deep inside" him, and after listening to recordings made for him by a Klingon expert, Obi looked to make the lines his own on set. It took three hours to apply his make-up. By January 2017,
James Frain James Frain is an English actor. His best known television roles include Thomas Cromwell in the Showtime/CBC historical drama ''The Tudors'' (2007–2009), Franklin Mott in the HBO drama ''True Blood'' (2010), Warwick the Kingmaker in the BB ...
was cast as
Sarek Sarek is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock. The character was originally played by Mark Lenard in the epi ...
, a character who was first portrayed by
Mark Lenard Mark Lenard (born Leonard Rosenson, October 15, 1924 – November 22, 1996) was an American actor, primarily in television. His most famous role was that of Sarek, father of Spock, in the science fiction ''Star Trek'' franchise, both in '' Sta ...
in the original ''Star Trek'' series. The next month, three actors were cast as Starfleet officers: Terry Serpico as Admiral Anderson,
Maulik Pancholy Maulik Navin Pancholy (, born January 18, 1974) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Jonathan on ''30 Rock'', Baljeet Tjinder in ''Phineas and Ferb'', Neal in the first season of '' Whitney'', and as characters named Sanjay P ...
as Dr. Nambue, and Sam Vartholomeos as Ensign Connor. Vartholomeos described Connor as "Starfleet through and through," and added, "when someone goes against Starfleet or contradicts Starfleet, Connor's wires get crossed."


Filming

The series began filming at
Pinewood Toronto Studios Pinewood Toronto Studios (formerly known as ''Filmport'') is a major film and television studio complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is the largest of its kind in Canada. It is the first in Toronto capable of accommodating the production of ...
on January 24, 2017, with
Guillermo Navarro Guillermo Jorge Navarro Solares, (born July 29, 1955) is a Mexican cinematographer and television director.Scott, A. O. (November 21, 2001). ''The New York Times''The Devil's Backbone (review overview)./ref> He had been a frequent collaborator ...
serving as cinematographer on the first episode. By mid-May 2017, production on the episode had been completed, including filming for scenes set on a desert planet which had taken place on location in
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
. The producers worked closely with Semel to make the series look as cinematic as possible, including filming the bridge of Starfleet's ships in such a way as "not to shoot in a sort of
proscenium A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...
box... to be able to get the camera into spaces where, you know, to shoot it in interesting ways, which is a combination of choreographing a scene to motivate the camera moving, and also lighting." They also devised a way with Navarro to contour the lighting on set to make the series look even more cinematic but not make the audience have to "squint your eyes to see what was happening." Additional filming for the episode took place at
Paramount Studios Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production and distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount Global. It is the sixth-oldest film studio i ...
, to create Burnham's flight through space from the ''Shenzhou'' to the Klingon beacon. The sequence was first pre-visualized with anamatics by
Pixomondo Pixomondo (PXO) is an Academy and Emmy award-winning international visual effects and virtual production company with studios in Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and London. The company provides virtual production ...
, which Semel described as being very specific and illustrating what every shot of the sequence would be. Martin-Green was then filmed in front of a
green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...
on a wire rig, which was maneuvered to create a sense of weightlessness. Semel was inspired for some of the movements by
scuba divers Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scuba'' is an acronym for ...
. The long haul space suit worn by Martin-Green in the sequence weighed , and was built in the United Kingdom from high-density foam covered in fiberglass.


Release

"The Vulcan Hello" premiered at the
ArcLight Hollywood ArcLight Cinemas was an American movie theater chain that operated from 2002 to 2021. It was owned by The Decurion Corporation, which was also the parent company of Pacific Theatres. The ArcLight chain opened in 2002 as a single theater, the ArcL ...
on September 19, 2017. It then aired in a "preview broadcast" on CBS in the United States on September 24, and was made available with the next episode on CBS All Access. In Canada, it was broadcast on the
CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...
and the specialty channels
Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...
(English) and Z (French), also on September 24, before being streamed on
CraveTV Crave (originally CraveTV) is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media. The service competes directly with other subscription-based over-the-top streaming services operating in Canada, primarily against American-bas ...
. In 188 other countries, the episode was released on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
within 24 hours of its U.S. debut. On the launch of the
Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...
streaming service, on March 4, 2021, a one day only free ''Star Trek'' marathon was presented, featuring the first episodes of the various ''Star Trek'' television series, including "The Vulcan Hello". The marathon started at 7 am PT/10 am ET and was Live streamed on the
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
internet video platform, going through each first episode chronologically in order of release with "Vulcan Hello" airing after " Broken Bow".


Marketing

The first footage from the episode was released in a trailer in May 2017. Chris Harnick of
E! News ''E! News'', previously known as ''E! News Daily'' and ''E! News Live'', is the infotainment, entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and prima ...
described the trailer as "gorgeous" and "truly cinematic", and because of the appearances of Sarek and the Klingons in the footage, "this is the ''Star Trek'' you know and love." Aja Romano at '' Vox'' called the trailer's visuals "sumptuous" and "modern, but still very much in keeping with the aesthetic of previous ''Trek'' series". She continued, "What gets short shrift in this trailer is the series' overarching plot". The night before the episode debuted, a model of the USS ''Discovery'' was flown above the
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
on Manhattan's west side. Created by Remarkable Media, the rig consisted of a truss skeleton covered in LEDs, and was suspended from a Black Hawk helicopter. As part of the marketing campaign for the episode, CBS chose to embargo any reviews for the episode until after its broadcast. This is usually seen as a sign that the studio expects the product to receive unfavorable reviews, but
CBS Interactive Paramount Streaming (formerly CBS Digital Media, CBS Interactive, and ViacomCBS Streaming) is a division of Paramount Global that oversees the company's video streaming technology and direct-to-consumer services; including Pluto TV and Paramo ...
COO Marc DeBevoise stated that the decision was made as part of an attempt to prevent spoilers from leaking online, and to not "have too much out there before ans areable to see it", which was felt to be particularly important for the ''Star Trek'' franchise due to its "deep fan focus".


Reception


Ratings and viewership

According to
Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, the CBS broadcast was watched by 7 percent of adults 18–49 watching television at the time, 1.9 percent of the group in total. With 9.5 million total viewers, Screener's Rick Porter characterized the debut as "decent", particularly due to its off-set start time and competition with ''
NBC Sunday Night Football ''NBC Sunday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''SNF'') is an American weekly television broadcast of National Football League (NFL) games on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock in the United States. It began airing on August 6, 2006, w ...
''. The Space release in Canada was watched by 1.17 million viewers, and an additional million viewers watched the broadcast on CTV. The episode also saw the most viewers of any series debut on CraveTV. By September 27, the episode was also the 12th most pirated video listed on
The Pirate Bay The Pirate Bay, commonly abbreviated as TPB, is a free searchable online index of Film, movies, music, video games, Pornographic film, pornography and software. Founded in 2003 by Swedish think tank , The Pirate Bay facilitates the connection ...
. The CBS broadcast featured advertisements from several technology companies, including
Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
,
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
,
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
,
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...
,
Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas. It is a business-focused organization which works in servers, storage, networking, containerization software and ...
, and
Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
, with CBS charging a premium amount for advertisements during the "event". Several of the commercials focused on encouraging viewers to subscribe to All Access to see the next episode, and the rest of the series. These commercials focused on the different technologies through which All Access is available, such as Apple, Amazon or
Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...
. The episode's broadcast led to record subscriptions for All Access, with the service's biggest day, week, and month of signups coming with the premiere.


Critical reception

The
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.35/10 based on 22 reviews. Writing for ''
TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. It covers various topics including the latest news on television, reviews, latest releases, and more. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s ...
'', Dave Nemetz graded the episode a 'B+', saying, "the nail-bitingly tense premiere delivered a cracking good action story, eye-popping special effects and a number of gasp-worthy twists" that was worth the wait. Darren Franich for ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' gave the two-part premiere a collective 'B' grade, praising Martin-Green's performance as the lead and the production design as well as commenting on the "undeniable appeal" of the "introduction of a new ship, the revelation that we're watching that ship's final voyage, the cliffhanger possibility that our new hero is a fallen angel." Zack Handlen at ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' scored the episode a 'B+' grade. While noting some of the "clumsy writing" in the episode, he felt it was "thrilling, moving, and frequently unexpected. Just as importantly, for everything questionable about the design, it still feels like Trek." ''
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''s Matt Zoller Seitz gave a positive review, referring to the episode as "wonderstruck, overstuffed, corny and stirring" and feeling it "stands tall alongside the best-regarded incarnations of the ''Trek'' franchise... with an almost entirely new slate of characters... and casts them with actors you can't help but like even when they’re getting on your last nerve." At Vox, Emily VanDerWerff also gave a very positive review, feeling that the episodes had "all the strengths and flaws of classic ''Trek''" and praising Burnham as the protagonist: "the best thing about ''Discovery'' is that Michael Burnham, played beautifully by Martin-Green, does stuff. She gets in trouble. She breaks rules. She violates Starfleet protocol. She has emotions that get the best of her, even as she knows they shouldn't. She is, in other words, very human". She also praised the characters' relationships and the addition of Saru. Writing for
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, Chris Harnick considered Martin-Green's performance to be the strongest element of the show, praising her acting as a human raised in a Vulcan world by saying as "the most interesting part of the series
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presents a fascinating window into the world of ''Star Trek: Discovery''." Maureen Ryan of ''
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'' gave muted praise, saying the series "has yet to prove itself a worthy successor to '' The Next Generation'' or '' Deep Space Nine''. But there are reasons to hope that ''Discovery'' will be a promising addition to the ''Trek'' canon". ''
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''s Bill Keveney gave the premiere 2-and-a-half out of four stars, saying it "soars in ambition and devotion to ''Star Trek'' history and mythology, but stalls with certain plot details and stilted dialogue". Merrill Barr of ''
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'' felt the show was "not bad, but it’s off to a strange start... thas every chance from here to become something great, possibly even awards worthy." Patrick Cooley of
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called the series "a bitter disappointment, plagued by bad dialogue, poor storytelling and wooden, bewilderingly stupid characters." In 2017,
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ranked this as the number one best pilot episode of a ''Star Trek'' series to-date. They impressed with character design of Burnham, and of having a show where the main character is not the captain.


Accolades


References


Further reading

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External links

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Streaming from CBS All Access
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''Discovery''s World Premiere
at StarTrek.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Vulcan Hello 2017 American television episodes American television series premieres Star Trek: Discovery episodes Television episodes written by Bryan Fuller Fiction about mutinies