This would have worked for sure

http://bztv.typepad.com/newsviews/files/ST2004Reboot.pdf

J. Michael Straczynski and TV producer Bryce Zabel wanted to do this.

I think once the movie comes out, something very much like their idea could work.

We've heard and seen hints that, despite claims to the contrary, JJ is going to make SOME changes to the continuity.

Okay, if they're going to do that, then maybe (as said by JMS and BZ) we count "the new stuff" as a parallel universe, not erasing the original, but allowing new and different stuff to take place in the TOS era, and possibly beyond.

Could it work?

I think so.

(And don't forget guys...this is coming from a rabid "CHANGE NOTHING!!!" fan.)

What say you?

 

Good. God. No.

 

So they want to have a go at TOS themselves, with all the individual and well made episodes replaced by a story arc that TNG did in one episode?

 

Hated this before. Hate it now. You don't have to reinvent the universe to make a good Star Trek story.

This reminds me of 1980 versions of the Ford Mustang. STINO - Star Trek In Name Only.

 

I've read this before and I wasn't impressed with it. And that's coming from someone who loved Babylon 5.

 

I like B5, but this is crap, IMHO.

 

I guess I'm missing something, because it seems to me that the movie could, as a logical outgrowth, spawn a new version of TOS.

I'm not saying to do EXACTLY what those two wanted to do, but a new series that sort of covers old ground but also gives a lot that's new?

Come on! Don't tell me you wouldn't watch.

You KNOW you would.

 

What he said.

 

Yeah, I've seen this before, years ago, right?

I think the premise is wrong. The decline in Star Trek's ratings are not simply a function of the content of the series. It's part of an overall trend in entertainment that has occurred since the glory days of TNG. Ratings for everything is down. Shows are "hits" with 10M viewers. Out of a nation of 300M, that's 3% of the population watching that so-called "hit" show.

Blame the profileration of media channels - more TV, DVDs, video games, the internet. There is far more stuff out there than people to consume it. Entertainment therefore has split into two survival strategies: the truly lowest common denomenator stuff - reality TV, formulaic cop shows - and entertainment that serves some niche so well that the niche stays loyal, buys DVDs, etc. Sci fi by definition belongs to the niche strategy.

If JMS wants to re-boot Trek, he should just come up with a good idea, that will appeal to a niche audience (maybe the existing fanbase, but maybe not). But he should not assume he will get anything more than a niche audience. 10M viewers would be just fine - and yes, that is a niche. 3% of the population is not anything like a mass audience.

The concept of re-casting Kirk, Spock and McCoy is actually a good one for serving this niche audience which will most likely be a mix of Trek fans and new people. And it will alienate other Trek fans. So be it. A niche means you can't please everyone.

But then JMS goes off the rails with that "ancient mystery" stuff. That's more B5-feeling, not really very Trek. Star Trek isn't about mystical hooey, it's got to stay centered on the political philosophy that underpins it: that liberal democracy will expand throughout the cosmos and even if there's a whole lot of fighting along the way, eventually everyone will be friends under the benign eye of the Federation, with Starfleet as its muscle. That kind of imperialism-for-democracy is Star Trek's "thing," what makes it unique, and that is the element that at some level must always be present.

I don't expect Kirk to "win command" of the Enterprise because he's pursuing an ancient mystery. I expect him to do that because he's got an unparalleled genius for the job - and whatever the mission was that allowed him to display that genius is irrelevant.

Kirk wasn't just given command of the Enterprise so he would wander around aimlessly. He, and everyone else in command of a starship, has a general mission to patrol and defend the Federation. Look at the actual premises of the TOS episodes. Kirk was always checking on colonies, ferrying diplomats, fighting Romulans and Klingons and the odd Doomsday Machine. His role is soldier and cop, and when he has time, he can do some exploring. That role is sufficient for any amount of stories, we don't need to create some goofy mystery at the center of the universe to give Kirk something to do.

JMS's plan doesn't convince me that he understands the core of Trek. It's like he's trying to re-make B5 and slap the Star Trek label on it. If JMS wants to create a series with a Priest, Warrior and Doctor who goes off finding ancient mysteries, he should go right ahead. It won't be Star Trek, but there's no reason it has to be. Call it something else, cast it well, write it well, give it a decent production budget and put it on TV. I'll give it a fair try-out. I can enjoy shows that have nothing to do with Star Trek.

 

So I guess Im the only guy who actually thought that was a good idea?

 

I don't want to see JMS spin on a merry-go-round, much less on my favourite series.

B5 was vomit inducing. Crusade was unwatchable. He wouldn't have a clue how to do Star Trek any justice. He would make Freddie's Third Season look like Shakespeare's In the Round.

 

^ Rumor has it That JMS tried to sell the B5 concept to Paramount in the beginning?

 

Yeah. They turned him down, and then came up with DS9, a totally different series about a space station that becomes an interstellar crossroads, and an ongoing storyline about super-aliens of darkness and evil, super-aliens of light and goodness, and a station commander who, at the end, goes away to be with the good aliens.

Wait...

Which one of those two shows was I talking about? B5 or DS9? Ummm....

 

Looking at JMS presentation there, I think it could have been an interesting show. I'd certainly have watched it.
His commitment to "real" SF authors and not writing all the scripts himself are definitely things in its favour.

 

That's the best part of the proposal. I never understood why TNG and the rest didn't try and purchase contemporary LitSF stories and adapt them to their formats. IIRC, it's also something that JMS wanted to do for Crusade (when it was originally called,The Babylon Project: Crusade), but its short run and interference from TNT put a halt to that idea.

 

Next Generation had good reason to be content with its writing staff: it was getting outstanding ratings with a satisfying increase up to the last season. Maybe bringing in written-science-fiction authors might produce good stories but would the expense and bother be worth it?

Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, which suffered from steady and almost unstoppable declines, might have benefited more clearly, although television writing is not book writing, and by the mid 90s Trek had a pretty robust stable of writers who didn't need to be trained in how to write a script or adapt a story so it doesn't break the Trek Universe nor the budget. Bringing in new talent might have been a long-term wiser move, but the weekly production stuf has to make sense in the short-term.