I think I'm probably hugely controversial because I have absolutely no interest whatever in anything which takes place in the Abrams universe. I have absolutely no further interest in Kirk, Spock and McCoy et all. I wanted and still want the franchise to move forward without navel-gazing into some reinvented version of nostalgia or assume that the Original Series was just so wonderful and great which can never be better – Deep Space Nine is my favourite Trek.
If you want to do a reboot you have to –
1. Make sure your story makes absolute sense logically – taking Kirk from Cadet to Captain in one film without the benefit of the experience to back-up any native talent and working your way up the chain like everybody else in Starfleet has to, whilst riding on Daddy’s coat-tails does not make sense and is just crap
2. Do not massively change history to suit your own agenda unless you are completely wiping the slate clean and starting again from absolute scratch – in no universe should Enterprise be left as the one part of the franchise that still happened in the alternate universe just because TPTB somehow don’t really seem to think that anything that came after maybe The Voyage Home really counts
3. Produce something genuinely relevant, aware and up-to-date. Voyager and Enterprise failed not just because the writing wasn’t there, but also because they were reliant on conservative film-making and editing techniques, relatively weak, repetitive soundtracks and design and the kind of bumpy-headed aliens we’d seen umpteen which made their weaker scripts really seem pedestrian. They didn’t pay any attention to what else was going on in the genre at the same time which were taking on genre tropes and it really showed – in-short, the franchise did not move with the times
4. Do not make a cinematic effort – genre movies are made for the MTV crowd, all pounding music, huge stunts and unnecessary cleavage – none of the nuanced stuff I want. Into Darkness doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breathe as Wrath of Khan, they aren’t just dissimilar movies – the latter is literary and intellectual and tries to do philosophical things even with the space battle "two-dimensional thinking" anybody? – the former is content with megalomania and Alice Eve in her underwear. Spock dying is still one of the most moving screen deaths there are and Kirstie Alley has never been better in anything. They are also miles apart in quality
Keep it simple but be bold, get in the best people and learn the lessons of Battlestar Galactica – flexibility, intelligence, a willingness to take on sacred cows and the fandom, writers who were exceptional writers – some who had never written genre before, have a game-plan in-mind from the offing and get the best damn actors you can. We need actors with real authority and depth, people who can play anything - I mean who had heard of Tricia Helfer before then? And was James Callis anything other than Bridget's gay friend on Bridget Jones? We settle for less (with the probably exception of DS9, simply the best ensemble Trek’s ever had), so we get less. Voyager just got lucky that Jeri Ryan could act, but it seems ever more likely that, baring a miracle, she’ll never be as good again. We also settle for people who are consistently cast over and over in genre-work as well.
I’m not saying that Trek should go BSG-dark at all, or that it should try to do something wild like Farscape – which partly overlapped with Voyager but was infinitely superior most of the time. Those options wouldn’t work. I’m not talking about a post-Dominion victory-like scenario, but I’m saying that it’s gotta be radical with a capital ‘R’ or don’t even bother. And forgive me for being really negative, but I don’t think that Paramount would allow the utopian vision to be muddied enough to cope in a post-Sopranos, West Wing TV-world where character, environment and serialised storytelling are king and everything else is lazy.
And I’m not interested in Klingons either – they’ve been done to death and Star Trek is basically about the human condition – what makes us tick and how we cope in new and unfamiliar situations and anything that gets away from that probably won’t work.
Didn't anyone else see the kickstarter campaign for Star Trek:Renegades ?
As a backer I was given access to an early viewing of the completed episode and it was good. They're doing a cinema premier somewhere soon and I think pitching it to TV companies. http://startrekrenegades.com/
Wow in 1080 that was very impressive.
For a plot what about a starship crash landing on an island on planet. After a while a smoke monster appears.............
The only Star Trek TV series I want to see now is this:
The Federation got it's ass well and truly handed to it in some lengthy, horrific interstellar war (the Borg, or someone else, doesn't matter).
Earth survived, barely, but now knows its hugely reduced state in the galactic ruins. Poverty, corruption, starvation, disease etc. rampant. Remnants of Starfleet do what they can to ease the suffering and defend the tattered remains from marauding barbarians (including the aliens who destroyed the Federation as well as opportunist alien species). They'd be wracked with guilt and having major confidence issues about not being able to stop the initial collapse, not helped with having to do horribly un-Starfleet things just to try and keep their heads above water.
Have Klingons, Romulans etc. if you like but they also got their asses kicked and barely just survived as well, and are now so desperate their relationships with humanity are totally altered.
Obviously, it'd be exceptionally dark. I don't mean "three episodes in and they've more or less restored the planet/Federation" dark, I mean, relentlessly grim the entire run. Basically I want it to be the polar opposite of the utopic vision of e.g. TNG.
I would like to see a series set on a timeship. Fans will recall that there have been timeships in Star Trek TNG. Also I would like a series (to run parallel) set in the academy. I would like to see Q back and a new Q, also Guinan and Picard to make guest appearances.
...
Earth survived, barely, but now knows its hugely reduced state in the galactic ruins. Poverty, corruption, starvation, disease etc. rampant. Remnants of Starfleet do what they can to ease the suffering and defend the tattered remains from marauding barbarians (including the aliens who destroyed the Federation as well as opportunist alien species). ...
Or even just one ship, lucky enough to have survived the onslaught after being on a deep strike mission but didn't reach its target due to a spot of engine trouble (and most importantly the mission would have prevented everything) and had to go into stasis to wait for a repair team that never arrived.
So it's still heavily armed and in good condition, with its heroic demi-god-like captain and plucky band of salvage pirates who eventually found it, ready to go forth and restore the unusually benign and democratic empire. Though for some reason I just can't quite get to grips with it seems like I might have heard something like this story before...
Or just do a total all-out space lasers bonanza of Borg versus everyone else possibly with some occasional indoor interludes to remind us of who's who and have a quick look at the scorecard.
The only Star Trek TV series I want to see now is this:
The Federation got it's ass well and truly handed to it in some lengthy, horrific interstellar war (the Borg, or someone else, doesn't matter).
Earth survived, barely, but now knows its hugely reduced state in the galactic ruins. Poverty, corruption, starvation, disease etc. rampant. Remnants of Starfleet do what they can to ease the suffering and defend the tattered remains from marauding barbarians (including the aliens who destroyed the Federation as well as opportunist alien species). They'd be wracked with guilt and having major confidence issues about not being able to stop the initial collapse, not helped with having to do horribly un-Starfleet things just to try and keep their heads above water.
Have Klingons, Romulans etc. if you like but they also got their asses kicked and barely just survived as well, and are now so desperate their relationships with humanity are totally altered.
Obviously, it'd be exceptionally dark. I don't mean "three episodes in and they've more or less restored the planet/Federation" dark, I mean, relentlessly grim the entire run. Basically I want it to be the polar opposite of the utopic vision of e.g. TNG.
Never going to happen but hey.
I'm sure one time, in interacting with "future" characters, it was mentioned about a time when the Federation fell, but eventually got back together. I guess if it went with the war angle, it'd feel a bit Dominion war-like, but if it went with trying to get the Federation back together it'd end up like Andromeda. Though, to be honest, the idea works better in a Trek universe, since everyone knows all the races and stuff. I mean, obviously it would just be the theme "reform the Federation" that is similar, the styles of show are massively different.
I could definitely go with this show. Most set in their present day, trying to reform the Federation/just survive, with many whole episodes set as flashbacks detailing the war as it plays out. It'd stop it getting TOO dark. You'd see motivations of characters expanded (like maybe you viewed this one character as really removed/shy, then in flashback you see he was responsible for mass death on a planetary scale, and realise he was just trying to deal with it).
At least 50 years after current film NG (just so we know everyone from TNG/DS9/VOY had good lives, and we're not left all depressed and "what happened to...?"
It would need to be galactic, with ways to get about the larger galaxy, but restrictions somehow so they can't just skip about willy-nilly.
Dominion would be part of the Federation, or maybe another true Federation faction, with them both out to reform as the larger "Federation" as rivals. I'd actually like some other larger faction, rather than Dominion, because I see them as part of the Federation at this point, and I'd like one of the crew to be a Founder with his own Jem "H'dar bodyguard/friend/weird relationship.
I think the final seasons, would see an all-out galactic invasion by another galaxy, eventually leading to the milky way becoming "the greatest era of Federation history, when it grew to its greatest" to stave off the threat and so ultimately ending in hope.
I'm sure one time, in interacting with "future" characters, it was mentioned about a time when the Federation fell, but eventually got back together. I guess if it went with the war angle, it'd feel a bit Dominion war-like, but if it went with trying to get the Federation back together it'd end up like Andromeda. Though, to be honest, the idea works better in a Trek universe, since everyone knows all the races and stuff. I mean, obviously it would just be the theme "reform the Federation" that is similar, the styles of show are massively different.
I could definitely go with this show. Most set in their present day, trying to reform the Federation/just survive, with many whole episodes set as flashbacks detailing the war as it plays out. It'd stop it getting TOO dark. You'd see motivations of characters expanded (like maybe you viewed this one character as really removed/shy, then in flashback you see he was responsible for mass death on a planetary scale, and realise he was just trying to deal with it).
At least 50 years after current film NG (just so we know everyone from TNG/DS9/VOY had good lives, and we're not left all depressed and "what happened to...?"
It would need to be galactic, with ways to get about the larger galaxy, but restrictions somehow so they can't just skip about willy-nilly.
Dominion would be part of the Federation, or maybe another true Federation faction, with them both out to reform as the larger "Federation" as rivals. I'd actually like some other larger faction, rather than Dominion, because I see them as part of the Federation at this point, and I'd like one of the crew to be a Founder with his own Jem "H'dar bodyguard/friend/weird relationship.
I think the final seasons, would see an all-out galactic invasion by another galaxy, eventually leading to the milky way becoming "the greatest era of Federation history, when it grew to its greatest" to stave off the threat and so ultimately ending in hope.
This is what was originally proposed as a new Star Trek series but ultimately became Andromeda. For the powers-that-be it was too dark, too risky to have a show set in a post-Federation galaxy, especially as the Federation has always stood as a metaphor for the USA.
Personally, I think it would have been great. Imagine a show like early Andromeda, able to plunder the wealth of "history" in the Star Trek universe.
Andromeda had potential but failed when Kevin Sorbo took control and it became "Hercules in Space" (or "The Kevin Sorbo Show").
Unfortunately, the great minds in charge of the franchise didn't want to do it, so nothing happened.
The big problem is always going to be that all those with the power to commission do is try to recreate the original, in one form or another, but are terrified of real change and progress, in case it kills their golden goose. Therefore, doing anything really good and new with Star Trek ain't gonna happen.
Unfortunately, the great minds in charge of the franchise didn't want to do it, so nothing happened.
The big problem is always going to be that all those with the power to commission do is try to recreate the original, in one form or another, but are terrified of real change and progress, in case it kills their golden goose. Therefore, doing anything really good and new with Star Trek ain't gonna happen.
This too could have been good, particularly with JMS's involvement (Only now it would be Universe "C" ). I think a new TV series is inevitable at some point. Going back to the start, as in the treatment you posted, would be a good way to "comfort" the risk averse powers-that-be who might commission such a series.
I would like to see a series set on a timeship. Fans will recall that there have been timeships in Star Trek TNG. Also I would like a series (to run parallel) set in the academy. I would like to see Q back and a new Q, also Guinan and Picard to make guest appearances.
Oh god no!!! I hate time travel in sci fi shows and when they mix in what is clearly 'fantasy' (all that Q nonsense) into sci fi.
I have hated all the version of Star Trek other than the original series and some episodes of TNG, in all the other shows there has bee too much recycling of old scripts.
A show about a Federation Starship that has to deal with a galaxy wide Zombie outbreak.
Despite needing to feast on brains (human or alien) the Zombies can stil pilot starships (Hey if Reavers can do it ) which is why the outbreak has spread from the world of origin.
Just think we could have alien zombies with 7 heads, which one do you shoot to make sure the Zombie:D doesn't get up again?
Do you ever watch the Big Bang Theory? They have a permanent downer on B5 on that as well
occasionally I have.
I like it when they debate their geeky things. haven't seen them bash B5 though. to be honest its better than some other things like Andromeda but ST pisses over all other sci-fi TV shows for me (apart from BSG).
babylon 5 is horrendously over-rated. ST pisses all over B5.
I watched about 3 seasons of B5 and got bored of it.
Personally I love B5 and ST and new BSG and many other SF shows (while still recognising their faults).
You know the current popular trend in TV-land? Where every new show seems to have a long term story arc? B5 was one of the earliest shows to go down that route. and its arc was planned right from the beginning unlike some arc shows which make-it-up-as-they-go-along (e.g. BSG). If you like story arcs, as opposed to pure standalone individual eps (as was the norm in TV up to the 1990s) perhaps you should give B5 another look. B5 is good for the mystery and reveals during the first view and then beautiful on subsequent re-watch when you can really see the subtle foreshadowing and hints of what's to come. Binge-watching also makes the arc much clearer. I love the care and attention to detail of B5. It's a show that rewards paying close attention while you watch.
Comments
If you want to do a reboot you have to –
1. Make sure your story makes absolute sense logically – taking Kirk from Cadet to Captain in one film without the benefit of the experience to back-up any native talent and working your way up the chain like everybody else in Starfleet has to, whilst riding on Daddy’s coat-tails does not make sense and is just crap
2. Do not massively change history to suit your own agenda unless you are completely wiping the slate clean and starting again from absolute scratch – in no universe should Enterprise be left as the one part of the franchise that still happened in the alternate universe just because TPTB somehow don’t really seem to think that anything that came after maybe The Voyage Home really counts
3. Produce something genuinely relevant, aware and up-to-date. Voyager and Enterprise failed not just because the writing wasn’t there, but also because they were reliant on conservative film-making and editing techniques, relatively weak, repetitive soundtracks and design and the kind of bumpy-headed aliens we’d seen umpteen which made their weaker scripts really seem pedestrian. They didn’t pay any attention to what else was going on in the genre at the same time which were taking on genre tropes and it really showed – in-short, the franchise did not move with the times
4. Do not make a cinematic effort – genre movies are made for the MTV crowd, all pounding music, huge stunts and unnecessary cleavage – none of the nuanced stuff I want. Into Darkness doesn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breathe as Wrath of Khan, they aren’t just dissimilar movies – the latter is literary and intellectual and tries to do philosophical things even with the space battle "two-dimensional thinking" anybody? – the former is content with megalomania and Alice Eve in her underwear. Spock dying is still one of the most moving screen deaths there are and Kirstie Alley has never been better in anything. They are also miles apart in quality
Keep it simple but be bold, get in the best people and learn the lessons of Battlestar Galactica – flexibility, intelligence, a willingness to take on sacred cows and the fandom, writers who were exceptional writers – some who had never written genre before, have a game-plan in-mind from the offing and get the best damn actors you can. We need actors with real authority and depth, people who can play anything - I mean who had heard of Tricia Helfer before then? And was James Callis anything other than Bridget's gay friend on Bridget Jones? We settle for less (with the probably exception of DS9, simply the best ensemble Trek’s ever had), so we get less. Voyager just got lucky that Jeri Ryan could act, but it seems ever more likely that, baring a miracle, she’ll never be as good again. We also settle for people who are consistently cast over and over in genre-work as well.
I’m not saying that Trek should go BSG-dark at all, or that it should try to do something wild like Farscape – which partly overlapped with Voyager but was infinitely superior most of the time. Those options wouldn’t work. I’m not talking about a post-Dominion victory-like scenario, but I’m saying that it’s gotta be radical with a capital ‘R’ or don’t even bother. And forgive me for being really negative, but I don’t think that Paramount would allow the utopian vision to be muddied enough to cope in a post-Sopranos, West Wing TV-world where character, environment and serialised storytelling are king and everything else is lazy.
And I’m not interested in Klingons either – they’ve been done to death and Star Trek is basically about the human condition – what makes us tick and how we cope in new and unfamiliar situations and anything that gets away from that probably won’t work.
Wow in 1080 that was very impressive.
For a plot what about a starship crash landing on an island on planet. After a while a smoke monster appears.............
I don't think that has ever been done before in the history of telly. Ever!
Obviously code for 'we know they are here'.
Nowt to do with this thread but it shows the power of Star Trek and the likely interest out there in something new if well done.
awesome
ideas people. come on lets resurrect the biggest sci-fi franchise in history. come on more ideas!!!
#LLAP
The Federation got it's ass well and truly handed to it in some lengthy, horrific interstellar war (the Borg, or someone else, doesn't matter).
Earth survived, barely, but now knows its hugely reduced state in the galactic ruins. Poverty, corruption, starvation, disease etc. rampant. Remnants of Starfleet do what they can to ease the suffering and defend the tattered remains from marauding barbarians (including the aliens who destroyed the Federation as well as opportunist alien species). They'd be wracked with guilt and having major confidence issues about not being able to stop the initial collapse, not helped with having to do horribly un-Starfleet things just to try and keep their heads above water.
Have Klingons, Romulans etc. if you like but they also got their asses kicked and barely just survived as well, and are now so desperate their relationships with humanity are totally altered.
Obviously, it'd be exceptionally dark. I don't mean "three episodes in and they've more or less restored the planet/Federation" dark, I mean, relentlessly grim the entire run. Basically I want it to be the polar opposite of the utopic vision of e.g. TNG.
Never going to happen but hey.
So it's still heavily armed and in good condition, with its heroic demi-god-like captain and plucky band of salvage pirates who eventually found it, ready to go forth and restore the unusually benign and democratic empire. Though for some reason I just can't quite get to grips with it seems like I might have heard something like this story before...
Or just do a total all-out space lasers bonanza of Borg versus everyone else possibly with some occasional indoor interludes to remind us of who's who and have a quick look at the scorecard.
I'm sure one time, in interacting with "future" characters, it was mentioned about a time when the Federation fell, but eventually got back together. I guess if it went with the war angle, it'd feel a bit Dominion war-like, but if it went with trying to get the Federation back together it'd end up like Andromeda. Though, to be honest, the idea works better in a Trek universe, since everyone knows all the races and stuff. I mean, obviously it would just be the theme "reform the Federation" that is similar, the styles of show are massively different.
I could definitely go with this show. Most set in their present day, trying to reform the Federation/just survive, with many whole episodes set as flashbacks detailing the war as it plays out. It'd stop it getting TOO dark. You'd see motivations of characters expanded (like maybe you viewed this one character as really removed/shy, then in flashback you see he was responsible for mass death on a planetary scale, and realise he was just trying to deal with it).
At least 50 years after current film NG (just so we know everyone from TNG/DS9/VOY had good lives, and we're not left all depressed and "what happened to...?"
It would need to be galactic, with ways to get about the larger galaxy, but restrictions somehow so they can't just skip about willy-nilly.
Dominion would be part of the Federation, or maybe another true Federation faction, with them both out to reform as the larger "Federation" as rivals. I'd actually like some other larger faction, rather than Dominion, because I see them as part of the Federation at this point, and I'd like one of the crew to be a Founder with his own Jem "H'dar bodyguard/friend/weird relationship.
I think the final seasons, would see an all-out galactic invasion by another galaxy, eventually leading to the milky way becoming "the greatest era of Federation history, when it grew to its greatest" to stave off the threat and so ultimately ending in hope.
This is what was originally proposed as a new Star Trek series but ultimately became Andromeda. For the powers-that-be it was too dark, too risky to have a show set in a post-Federation galaxy, especially as the Federation has always stood as a metaphor for the USA.
Personally, I think it would have been great. Imagine a show like early Andromeda, able to plunder the wealth of "history" in the Star Trek universe.
Andromeda had potential but failed when Kevin Sorbo took control and it became "Hercules in Space" (or "The Kevin Sorbo Show").
JMS, of the (infinitely superior) Babylon 5 fame, delivered a fantastic treatment for a Star Trek reboot a few years ago -
http://bztv.typepad.com/newsviews/2006/06/spaced_out_star.html
Unfortunately, the great minds in charge of the franchise didn't want to do it, so nothing happened.
The big problem is always going to be that all those with the power to commission do is try to recreate the original, in one form or another, but are terrified of real change and progress, in case it kills their golden goose. Therefore, doing anything really good and new with Star Trek ain't gonna happen.
That is a really fabulous idea!
This too could have been good, particularly with JMS's involvement (Only now it would be Universe "C"
babylon 5 is horrendously over-rated. ST pisses all over B5.
I watched about 3 seasons of B5 and got bored of it.
Do you ever watch the Big Bang Theory? They have a permanent downer on B5 on that as well
Oh god no!!! I hate time travel in sci fi shows and when they mix in what is clearly 'fantasy' (all that Q nonsense) into sci fi.
I have hated all the version of Star Trek other than the original series and some episodes of TNG, in all the other shows there has bee too much recycling of old scripts.
A simple enough concept and a guaranteed success.
Despite needing to feast on brains (human or alien) the Zombies can stil pilot starships (Hey if Reavers can do it
Just think we could have alien zombies with 7 heads, which one do you shoot to make sure the Zombie:D doesn't get up again?
Or maybe Ghosts?
Only joking...
occasionally I have.
I like it when they debate their geeky things. haven't seen them bash B5 though. to be honest its better than some other things like Andromeda but ST pisses over all other sci-fi TV shows for me (apart from BSG).
every ST series has the usual half a dozen time travel eps but to have a whole series based on it. waaay too tricky.
not for me personally
Personally I love B5 and ST and new BSG and many other SF shows (while still recognising their faults).
You know the current popular trend in TV-land? Where every new show seems to have a long term story arc? B5 was one of the earliest shows to go down that route. and its arc was planned right from the beginning unlike some arc shows which make-it-up-as-they-go-along (e.g. BSG). If you like story arcs, as opposed to pure standalone individual eps (as was the norm in TV up to the 1990s) perhaps you should give B5 another look. B5 is good for the mystery and reveals during the first view and then beautiful on subsequent re-watch when you can really see the subtle foreshadowing and hints of what's to come. Binge-watching also makes the arc much clearer. I love the care and attention to detail of B5. It's a show that rewards paying close attention while you watch.