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2* ActingForTwo:
3** Several actors portray the [[spoiler:MirrorUniverse counterparts of their usual characters]] during the latter half of the first season and in a two-part story in the third.
4** Creator/KennethMitchell plays four roles across three seasons:
5*** General Kol of House Kor
6*** Kol's father Kol-Sha
7*** Tenavik, a monk on Boreth
8*** Aurelio, a scientist for the Emerald Chain.
9* ActorSharedBackground:
10** Captain Phillipa Georgiou, who is revealed to be from Malaysia, just like her actress Creator/MichelleYeoh (although from different places in Malaysia: Georgiou is from the island of Pulau Langkawi, while Yeoh is from the mainland). Averted with [[spoiler:Emperor Phillipa Georgiou, who is ''not'' from Malaysia, despite having the same accent]].
11** In season 2, Captain Christopher Pike displays more familiarity than most Starfleet officers with the practice of religion and mentions attending church as a child (a notable departure from [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions franchise norms]],[[note]]Creator/JasonIsaacs reportedly was even stopped once from ad-libbing "For God's sake!" during a season 1 scene.[[/note]] [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Bajorans notwithstanding]]). Creator/AnsonMount is a practicing Episcopalian in real life.
12* AscendedFanon:
13** Although the existence of Capt. Robert April, the very first captain of the ''Enterprise'' (pre-dating Pike) was first revealed in ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'', and later referenced in many novels and comics, for a long time the owners of the ''Trek'' franchise did not recognize April as canon, due to having originated in the animated series, which was not considered canon, either. An on-screen reference to April in an early episode of ''Discovery'' marks the first time the live-action franchise has acknowledged his existence. In the second season, another on-screen reference explicitly named him as Pike's predecessor as the captain of the ''Enterprise''. April appears in person, having since been promoted to admiral, in the SpinOff ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'', played by Creator/AdrianHolmes.
14** In “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2”, Pike at one point refers to Number One as Una, a name used in the ''Literature/StarTrekLegacies'' trilogy to refer to her, given that she was no longer a first officer by the time of the novels. ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' gives her full name as Una Chin-Riley.
15** The idea of a Klingon going through extensive painful surgery to appear entirely as human first appeared in the comic miniseries Star Trek: Klingons – Blood Will Tell (With the one undergoing the process being Darvin).
16* TheCastShowoff: With Creator/MichelleYeoh playing Georgiou, the writers couldn't resist giving her spectacular sword-fighting scenes.
17* CastTheRunnerUp: Ian Alexander originally auditioned for the role of Adira. The producers decided he wasn't the right fit for Adira, but still liked his audition, and adjusted another character to become Gray.
18* DawsonCasting:
19** As a fourth-year cadet [[spoiler:(eventually commissioned and holding the rank of ensign in the Season 1 finale)]], Sylvia Tilly is supposed to be in her early twenties (most likely 22 or 23 by the end of the first season), whereas the actress who portrays her, Mary Wiseman, was actually 32 (the same age as Burnham's actress Sonequa Martin-Green) when the season was shot.
20** Adira is 16, played by Blu del Barrio, who's 23.
21* DisabledCharacterDisabledActor: With Kenneth Mitchell in a wheelchair courtesy of ALS, his season 3 character Aurelio is confined to a hoverchair.
22* DuelingShows: The show debuted within weeks of ''Series/TheOrville'', an AffectionateParody of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and a throwback to the earlier, LighterAndSofter shows. For the second season, ''Discovery'' episodes shifted to being released at 8:30 PM on Thursdays, which not-so-coincidentally is the day of the week that ''The Orville'' airs on {{Creator/Fox}} at 9:00 PM.
23* ExecutiveMeddling: Ex-showrunner Bryan Fuller has claimed that he intended for the uniforms to be more reminiscent of the original series and wanted to make each season as some kind of anthology, but Creator/{{CBS}} pushed for a new uniform design and a serialized storyline. (He did get his way to some extent: The original uniforms can be seen on background extras in the Starfleet ceremony scene in the first season finale; and while the show follows the same characters, each season has its own StoryArc.)
24* FakeAmerican:
25** Creator/JasonIsaacs, an Englishman, plays the American-accented Captain Lorca.
26** Similarly, British actor Shazad Latif plays Seattle-born Ash Tyler, [[spoiler:or at least a copy of the real Ash Tyler, into whom the Klingon warrior Voq was surgically modified]].
27* GodNeverSaidThat: It's frequently claimed that ''Discovery'' is a CosmeticallyAdvancedPrequel because of a legal requirement that it be "[[TwentyPercentMoreAwesome 25% different]]" from previous installments. In reality, the 25%-different quote was just a personal guideline John Eaves set for himself while designing the updated ''Constitution''-class, not something the show was ever obligated to do.
28* KillerApp: {{Invoked|Trope}}. CBS are hoping to push (American) membership in their premium streaming service, "CBS All Access," by making it the only way to get at this show. In fairness, this has been an effective tactic for Creator/{{Netflix}} (''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'', ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''), and Creator/{{HBO}} has been doing it for years (''Series/GameOfThrones'', ''Series/TheSopranos'', etc.).
29* LateExportForYou: Outside the US and Canada, Creator/{{Netflix}} launched each episode one day after its US premiere on Creator/ParamountPlus. That is, until 2021, when Paramount+ claimed the rights back from Netflix, causing it to be pulled from the service ''almost immediately'' before the premiere of season 4. This finally ended when Paramount [[https://intl.startrek.com/news/star-trek-discovery-season-four-lands-on-paramount-pluto-tv-internationally announced]] that the fourth season would air on Creator/PlutoTV worldwide, following the backlash surrounding the Netflix removal. Additionally, all markets which already have Paramount+ will see the episodes made available there on the same timetable.
30* LyingCreator: Much like the whole [[spoiler:John Harrison/Khan Noonien Singh]] thing in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', the showrunners, actors, and studio went to crazy lengths during season 1 to [[TheUntwist obfuscate plot twists in the face of viewers' eagerness to crowdsource theories]] from the show's ChekhovsArmory, including creating a fake Website/{{IMDb}} profile for [[spoiler:Javid Iqbal as a pseudonym for Shazad Latif (Voq and Ash Tyler)]]. It got to the point where they even started to take flak for it from [[https://io9.gizmodo.com/star-trek-discoverys-horrible-new-twist-made-a-great-c-1822293414 professional]] and [[https://geekdad.com/2018/01/star-trek-discovery-episode-12-recap-reactions-ruminations-vaulting-ambition-whatever/ semipro]] critics.
31* NotScreenedForCritics: In mid-September 2017, CBS embargoed any reviews of the new series being released before its premiere, normally a bad sign for any production. However, [[http://nerdist.com/star-trek-discovery-first-reactions-positive/ early reactions turned out to be quite positive]].
32* OnSetInjury: Creator/DougJones suffered a serious shoulder injury while filming the first season, which required surgery and sidelined him from a cameo role in ''Film/Hellboy2019''.
33* TheOriginalDarrin: Thanks to some archived footage from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', Creator/LeonardNimoy is able to reprise his role as Spock, only five years after his passing, in the episode "Unification III".
34* TheOtherDarrin:
35** The first two seasons involve a number of characters from ''TOS'', whose portrayers have all passed away. Thus: James Frain replaces Mark Lenard as Sarek; Mia Kirshner replaces Jane Wyatt as Amanda Grayson; Creator/RainnWilson replaces Roger C. Carmel as Harry Mudd; Anson Mount replaces Jeffrey Hunter as Capt. Christopher Pike; Ethan Peck replaces Creator/LeonardNimoy as Spock; Rebecca Romijn replaces Creator/MajelBarrett as Number One; and Melissa George replaces Susan Oliver as Vina.
36** More traditionally, Hannah Cheesman replaces Sara Mitich as LCDR Airiam for the second season, while Mitich moved to the role of Lt. Nilsson. (For whatever reason, Nilsson also takes Airiam's bridge station after the latter is written out.)
37* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/JasonIsaacs as heroic (if slightly grey and potentially PTSD-ridden) Starfleet Captain Gabriel Lorca. [[spoiler:However it's revealed his character is actually the MirrorUniverse Lorca, and as evil as they come. That being said, Jason Isaacs voices Prime Universe Lorca in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', who is an exemplary Starfleet captain.]]
38* QueerCharacterQueerActor:
39** The show features the franchise's first gay couple, Paul Stamets and Hugh Culber, played by queer actor Creator/AnthonyRapp and gay actor Creator/WilsonCruz, respectively.
40** Season Two introduces Lieutenant Commander Jet Reno, who mentions that her wife died during the war with the Klingons the previous season. Reno is played by Creator/TigNotaro, who is also gay. This later leads to quite an amusing scene where Stamets and Reno flirt while possessed.
41** Adira Tal comes out as non-binary to Paul. Blu del Barrio, who plays them, is non-binary as well.
42** Adira Tal's partner and Tal's former host, Gray, is played by Ian Alexander, a non-binary pansexual actor. An episode early in the fourth season had a throwaway dialogue exchange referring to Gray's "transition", implying that he is a trans man in-universe as well.
43* RealitySubtext: In "Far From Home," Reno advises Stamets on his difficulty accepting his physical difficulties after being seriously injured. Tig Notaro is quite familiar with this after her battle with breast cancer.
44* RefittedForSequel: The ''Discovery'''s design is based on [[https://static.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/51ce6099e4b0d911b4489b79/51ce61d6e4b0d911b44a2ff6/1293834330317/1000w/phaseIIenterprise.jpeg Ralph McQuarrie's concept art]] for the refit ''Enterprise'' from ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''.
45* ScheduleSlip: The first episode was supposed to premiere in January 2017, but this was later pushed back to May. January 24 brought news that they had finally started filming the pilot. Les Moonves, the head of CBS, later stated that the series would start airing in the "late summer or fall" of 2017. The delays led to ''Series/TheGoodFight'' being moved up to take its place as the debut series for CBS All Access. Its official premiere date ended up on September 24, 2017, resulting in an unplanned DuelingShows scenario with the ''Trek'' homage, ''Series/TheOrville''.
46* ScrewedByTheNetwork: a complicated example in that while the fandom has proven enthusiastic enough to keep the show alive thus far, the game of streaming app-roulette the show has been stuck in since its initial release has locked out many casual fans unwilling to pay for a subscription to watch a single show, when they're even aware which service it's on and that new seasons are still being created.
47* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Many viewers heartily approved that Creator/MiaKirshner, who plays Amanda Grayson, is basically a younger version of Jane Wyatt, Amanda's original actress. She also has a similar appearance to Creator/WinonaRyder, who played Kelvin timeline-Amanda in [[Film/StarTrek2009 the 2009 film]].
48* SerendipityWritesThePlot: It's widely assumed that part of the reason for the drastically redesigned Klingon makeup was the need to make [[spoiler:actor Shazid Latif, who plays Ash Tyler, completely unrecognizable when in makeup as Voq]], although many fans [[IKnewIt figured it out anyway]].
49* SpoiledByTheCastList: [[spoiler:The series unsuccessfully attempted to avert this. Voq infiltrates the ''Discovery'' crew as a human named Ash Tyler, with both "characters" played by the same actor, Shazad Latif. In the early episodes of the series, Voq was credited on-screen and in media cast lists as being played by a fictitious actor, "Javid Iqbal". Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Internet sleuths to notice that "Iqbal" had no other film or TV credits and no Internet or social media footprint, leading almost all of them to guess the twist. After the on-screen twist reveal, Latif confirmed that "Javid Iqbal" had been his father's name.]]
50* TrollingCreator: Creator/JasonIsaacs (Gabriel Lorca), from making fun of viewers who don't like the show on Website/{{Twitter}} to barging into an interview with Shazad Latif (Ash Tyler) and telling the reporter everything Latif says is a lie.
51* TroubledProduction: While the actual production has apparently been problem-free, at the executive level there has been considerable turmoil:
52** CBS's major idea was to use ''Discovery'' to entice viewers to sign up for the CBS All Access app. To do this, they sold the overseas distribution rights to Netflix, in return getting a price so high it practically paid for the entire production cost. However, this meant that in the US, after the first part of the pilot aired on broadcast, anyone wanting to watch the series ''had'' to subscribe to CBS All Access, alienating and angering many viewers[[note]]who often learned this the hard way[[/note]] who didn't want to pay $6 a month for the privilege of watching ''Discovery'' and, for them, nothing else they weren't getting anywhere else.
53** Original showrunner Bryan Fuller was fired midway through the production of the first season due to a combination of scheduling delays, creative differences and Fuller also trying to work on ''Series/AmericanGods'' at the same time. Co-showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts were kept on to retool the series without Fuller, but were themselves fired midway through the second season due to ballooning production costs and accusations of hostility toward the writers.
54* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[WhatCouldHaveBeen/StarTrek Enough for its own page]]
55* YouLookFamiliar:
56** Kenneth Mitchell plays four different characters over the first three seasons, three of them Klingons: General Kol in Season 1; Kol's father, Kol-Sha, in episode 2.03, "Point of Light"; and Tenavik, a Timekeeper [[spoiler:and L'Rell and Voq's son]], in episode 2.12, "Through the Valley of Shadows". In Season 3, he plays the Emerald Chain human scientist Aurelio. The role of Aurelio was created so that Mitchell could still participate in the show even though Mitchell's ALS had progressed to the point that he had to use a wheelchair.
57** A peculiar case happens with Lt. Com. Ariam. She was played by Sara Mitich in the first season, [[TheOtherDarrin then recasted]] with Hannah Cheesman in the second season. After Ariam's death in the second season, her position on the bridge was replaced by Lt. Com. Nilsson, played by Ariam's original actor Sara Mitich. This also makes it a VERY odd form of SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute.

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