Posted in: CBS, Opinion, Preview, Star Trek, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: opinion, paramount, preview, star trek, strange new worlds

Star Trek: ViacomCBS Not Too Happy with Strange New Worlds Screencaps

To say that "Star Trek" fans are excited for the May 5th premiere of Paramount+'s Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn & Ethan Peck-starring Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would be an understatement, with buzz building towards the release of the official trailer or at least a teaser. So imagine how pleasantly surprised the fans who tuned in yesterday to ViacomCBS' investors call that was streamed online were when they got a chance to check out a teaser for the "Discovery" spinoff. In fact, some were so excited by what they saw that they screencapped images from it and shared them on social media. Well, it seems like ViacomCBS, Paramount+ & their legal folks don't mind the excitement but they do mind when they feel it infringes on their IP rights. Which is a nice way of saying that they didn't like screencaps being out there so they invoked a "don't repeat or replicate" clause regarding their investors meeting streaming video and went after a whole bunch of folks to get those images taken down ASAP (with fan social media site @TheTrekCentral finding their account still suspended as of this writing).

Does ViacomCBS (soon to be Paramount overall) have the legal right to lay the smackdown on those images? Probably, and I can respect their interest in controlling how the show is rolled out from a marketing standpoint. That said? We're hard-pressed to find a trailer or teaser release that was actually hurt or suffered in any way by a leak. In fact, it's safe to say that "leaks" have been used in the past to test what the reactions would be to certain things so changes can be made before the "official" version hits screens. We're talking about people who seemed genuinely excited by being treated to a sneak preview and by what they saw. Are these the folks you really want to go after? A fixable mistake by all means and not the end of the world, but a self-inflicted one on the part of ViacomCBS & Paramount+. One they could've avoided.

With Paramount+'s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds set to lift off on May 5th, here's a look back at the official cast announcement teaser that was released last fall:

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will feature fan favorites from season two of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.

The series stars Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley / Number One, Ethan Peck as Spock, Babs Olusanmokun as M'Benga, Christina Chong as La'an Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas, and Bruce Horak as Hemmer. The series premiere was written by Akiva Goldsman with the story by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet. Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serve as co-showrunners, with Goldsman directing the premiere episode. Goldsman, Kurtzman, and Lumet serve as executive producers in addition to Alonso Myers, Heather Kadin, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, and Aaron Baiers. Akela Cooper and Davy Perez serve as co-executive producers. Nami Melumad (An American Pickle, Absentia) has been tapped as the score composer for the series original score. Jeff Russo (Star Trek: Discovery & Picard, Legion) composed the main and titles music. The series is produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment.

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