FuManChu

Can someone explain why one of the leading ladies on the new show is called "Michael"?

Watched about 10 min & turned to a DVD. Read earlier that there were few bumps.

Beowulf Loc: Aquidneck Island, RI

There have been other instances in which "Michael" denoted a female's name. Perhaps the most recently notable was the female actor Michael Learned, with many screen credits, most notably as Caroline Ingalls in the long running "Liitle House on the Prairie".

Beowulf Loc: Aquidneck Island, RI

Oops, I misspoke. Michael Learned played Olivia Walton on "The Waltons" and not Caroline Ingalls on the other show. Just a septuagenarian memory lapse.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

I think the writers are just trying to be "trendy". I also think they missed the mark with this one and I too, after a short while, changed to something else.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

When I was in high school, I worked with a girl named Michael - absolutely gorgeous.

Michael Learned was the mother on The Waltons.

Then there's that Johnny Cash song, "A Boy Named Sue." It works both ways.

Bloke Loc: Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

Recorded the show on my dvr, and sat down last night to watch it. Turns out that the previous show (60 minutes...) ran more than 20 minutes late, so I knew I would only have half of the new one. Tried looking for other broadcast times: nothing. Tried looking in the 'on demand' section: nothing. Looked in the schedule to find episode 2, as they sometimes repeat the first episode immediately before it: nothing. Decided to watch what I had of it anyway.

Turns out, that this first episode is just a teaser, and you have to subscribe to a pay service in order to see the rest of the season. That is just crap. I've been a fan of star trek since the original series started back whenever - used to cycle several miles to a friend's house to watch as they were the only people I knew that had a colour tv at the time.

If they aren't prepared to broadcast a tv show on regular tv, then they can take it and shove it! I already pay for cable, and am not about to start subscribing to pay services for each show I want to watch... "CBS All-access" apparently means no-access-unless-you-pay-us...

Not even sure just *when* this show is supposed to be, in relation to the various other ST shows... The Klingons are completely different once again - 3rd iteration of the species - and the Starfleet admiral said that nobody had heard from the Klingons for over 100 years... The captain was on about not breaking "standing order no. 1", which I assume is the often quoted - and more often ignored! - Prime Directive. So, does this one slot in before the original series, as Klingons were well-known at that point in their history?

FrumCA

From TV Guide:

Star Trek: Discovery's Sonequa Martin-Green is the first woman of color, not to mention first non-captain character, to lead a Star Trek series and -- no, your ears are not deceiving you -- she's got a typically male name: Michael Burnham.
That was no accident. It was former showrunner Bryan Fuller's idea, following in his long tradition of giving his female protagonists masculine names. See: Dead Like Me's George (Ellen Muth); Pushing Daisies' Chuck (Anna Friel); and Wonderfalls' unisex Jaye (Caroline Dhavernas).
"We've worked on many shows with Bryan and it's a motif. It's his signature move to name his lead women with names that would typically be associated as male," executive producer Aaron Harberts said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour last month.

Sonequa Martin-Green Reveals the Emotional Moment Nichelle Nichols Passed the Star Trek Torch
After tossing around a couple of options, the writers eventually landed on Michael for the first officer of the USS Shenzhou. "I have known of, I think, two [female] Michaels: Michael Sneed, [who] was a gossip columnist for the Chicago Sun‑Times and Michael Steele who played the bass for The Bangles. That's a deep dive on female Michaels," Harberts said. "And we talked about it in the entire room. It was just like, 'This is a really, really interesting name.' And, of course, an archangel is named Michael as well, and it just had a lot of potency for us."

And lest we forget, there are some female Michaels associated with TV: four-time Emmy winner Michael Learned of The Waltons and Michael Michele from ER.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I hate it when shows can't end on time. Sports, right?

I forgot all about it, so I didn't try to record it - just as well.

CBS isn't rich enough, so it wants everyone to sign up for All Access and pay a monthly fee. Not me. You can try it free, but maybe you won't get an entire show.
https://www.cbs.com/all-access/?ref=__iv_p_1_g_15527027287_w_kwd-170170800007_h_9004811_ii__d_c_v__n_g_c_217300825336_k_cbs%20all-access_m_e_l__t__e__r_1t1_vi__&utm_source=paidsearch&ftag=AAM03c5ced&vndid=google$null$null$cbs%20all-access&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9afOBRDWARIsAJW4nvw-uAaLbMTAQCX1nueBzb4kvFwDopSGUhHrVVpwM0z0oZ0-2Hwgp88aAoJtEALw_wcB

I'll set my TiVo to record originals and reruns.

FrumCA

As I understand CBS All Access it costs $5.99 per month with no contract. So, if Star Trek Discovery (or any other available program for that matter) is a favorite you could sign up for the duration of the program and then cancel. I think most series run about 10-12 episodes so it would cost $18 to watch the first season of Star Trek.

bikertut Loc: Kingsville, MO

One of my friend's (Michael) daughter is named Lauren Michael. It is not that strange.

lbrande

The show may have had promise, but it lost many viewers when CBS in it's infinite wisdom chose the program to be only on All Access. Most illogical.

Strange

Remember the story about the videotape format war. How Sony charged for each use of the Betamax shell and how the VHS shell could be used without a licensing fee. I will not subscribe to CBS All Access, and I hope no one else does either. I'm a fan of Star Trek, but not of the way CBS is providing future content. Resistance is NOT futile and I will NOT be assimilated!

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

I managed to watch it. I liked some things about it (the 'look', the acting, and a lot of the dialogue. I thought the story was good too). But other things left me completely baffled, even allowing that its a Star Trek series and so it will be illogical in many ways. I missed the Michael name but that is really trivial imo.

ayersrl Loc: Palm Beach Gardens,Fl

Michael is the name of one of the archangels, therefore neither male nor female. The name is appropriate for either gender.

taxman Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

This is supposed to be a prequel to the original series, taking place 10-years before it.

I agree with the comments about having to access it on a pay-service. As a self-avowed Trekie, I found the episode engaging, but not enough for me to subscribe to the CBS All Access service.