What do want to see from a new series

[BillJ]

Romulus Prime wrote:

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A non-human captain.

And does the Captain always have to be the main character? Why not have a series that focuses on the 1st officer and how they go from 2nd in command to captain - what a potential for a story arc with that concept.

Bad idea.

You would always have the captain looking inflexible or downright stupid in order to focus on how great the first officer character is.

[Greg Cox]

BillJ wrote:

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Bad idea.

You would always having the captain looking inflexible or downright stupid in order to focus on how great the first officer character is.

Hey, it works on cop shows.

"Damnit, Lieutenant. There's no room on this ship for mavericks who don't play by the rules. You're off the mission!"

"What's that, Captain? I can't read you. You're breaking up . . . ."

[R. Star]

BillJ wrote:

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Bad idea.

You would always have the captain looking inflexible or downright stupid in order to focus on how great the first officer character is.

So like Voyager in reverse?

[Herkimer Jitty]

BillJ wrote:

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Bad idea.

You would always have the captain looking inflexible or downright stupid in order to focus on how great the first officer character is.

That's a pretty big leap.

I find it far more likely that such a captain would be written as a wise old mentor. The Obi Wan to the plucky commander's Skywalker.

[Romulus Prime]

BillJ wrote:

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Bad idea.

You would always have the captain looking inflexible or downright stupid in order to focus on how great the first officer character is.

Sure, if you write it like that.

Or you can go the route that many sci-fi and fantasy books go and have a strong "leader" character who the main character emulates and learns from via trial and error. Rand Al Thor of the Wheel of Time series starts out as a bit of a whelp who's led by both a strong woman and her bodyguard. Luke from Star Wars isn't too different in this regard in the first 2 original Star Wars movies - he's the main character, yet is guided by wiser, more experienced characters. Same can be said of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, and the person they follow - Gandolf.

A bad idea, really? The "leader" character would have to be "stupid", really? C'mon now.

[Bry_Sinclair]

I'd love a new Trek series with a non-human character in the lead role (that doesn't mean make them a hologram, android, or anything like that). I often find the alien characters more interesting anyways.

[Mars]

Bry_Sinclair wrote:

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I'd love a new Trek series with a non-human character in the lead role (that doesn't mean make them a hologram, android, or anything like that). I often find the alien characters more interesting anyways.

Well what can you do besides have forehead ridges or pointed ears? Spock commanded the Enterprise on a number of occasions.

[Mars]

I have an idea, it would be expensive if done as live action, but how about an intelligent dinosaur as captain? This one would be built sort of like a velociraptor, a bipedal dinosaur. The only way to do justice to a dinosaur character is not to have a man in a dinosaur suit, but to do it CGI.

[Romulus Prime]

Mars wrote:

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Well what can you do besides have forehead ridges or pointed ears? Spock commanded the Enterprise on a number of occasions.

Huh? There's plenty that can be done. Just take a look back at the movie and show Alien Nation. One main character is human, the other main is alien. You actually get the perspectives of both AND learn about how similar or different "George Fransisco's" family and species are in contrast to humans. Another example - Delenn from Babylon 5 is (arguably) a main character in Season 1, and during this time, we get her alien perspective on events which take place.

The concept of an alien captain can certainly go wrong, but only if the writers follow your assumption that they are just humans in weird make up...

[Mars]

Romulus Prime wrote:

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Huh? There's plenty that can be done. Just take a look back at the movie and show Alien Nation. One main character is human, the other main is alien. You actually get the perspectives of both AND learn about how similar or different "George Fransisco's" family and species are in contrast to humans. Another example - Delenn from Babylon 5 is (arguably) a main character in Season 1, and during this time, we get her alien perspective on events which take place.

The concept of an alien captain can certainly go wrong, but only if the writers follow your assumption that they are just humans in weird make up...

What if the alien was a Tholian, remember the Tholians from the series Enterprise? Now we got an idea of what they look like and what sort of environment they live under. So how would a Tholian be as Captain?

Here's another interesting choice, how about a Hobbit? I mean seriously, somewhere in the Trek Universe there's bound to be a humanoid that stands 3 feet 6 inches tall as an average sized adult of their species, so how would such a diminutive race fit into the captain's chair?

[Romulus Prime]

Mars wrote:

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What if the alien was a Tholian, remember the Tholians from the series Enterprise? Now we got an idea of what they look like and what sort of environment they live under. So how would a Tholian be as Captain?

1. The chances of Kirk being resurrected from the dead are more likely than this scenario. Cost and viewer connection just wouldn't be enough to justify it...but I think you know that, hence throwing out this extreme example of an alien.

2. Tholians are xenophobic + a hive-like species. They probably wouldn't do it on principal alone, never mind species psychology.

3. Even if it were something that a writer and studio decided to do, this would be a perfect scenario to have the 1st officer as the main character, thus his interaction with his alien commander could demonstrate command style differences, similarities, conflicts and resolutions regarding misunderstandings of cultural/species differences.

Here's another interesting choice, how about a Hobbit? I mean seriously, somewhere in the Trek Universe there's bound to be a humanoid that stands 3 feet 6 inches tall as an average sized adult of their species, so how would such a diminutive race fit into the captain's chair?

Hmm, and here I was thinking you had this "can't do it" attitude. I actually have a "dwarf" size character as one of my STO captains. He belongs to a race which is respected by both Feds and Klingons for their tenacity...but that's all I will say about my invention...

[Bry_Sinclair]

A Tholian CO would be doubtful, seeing as how relations between the Assembly and the Federation never seem to be that cosy. I was actually thinking an already well established humanoid Federation species, played by an actor in prosthetics--a new series still needs to be affordable, so there's no point blowing the budget on Captain Jar Jar

As much as I love Vulcans, there emotional detachment and approach could be difficult for an audience to get behind. A Trill would be good, the spots aren't that distracting for none-fans so wouldn't necessarily scare away new viewers (though to make them different from Jadzia, have the character be just a Host, no Symbiont in sight). Though I would love to see a Bolian Captain. We've seen them everywhere and given little snippets about their biology and culture, but not much as been done about them.

But that's just me.

[The Castellan]

More stories in the way of Devil in the Dark, Home Soil, Where Silence has Lease, Time Squared, Evolution, Transfigurations, Contagion, Masks, etc where it's really seeing stange new things, and not just "We gotta beat this weeks villain!".

[Mars]

Bry_Sinclair wrote:

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A Tholian CO would be doubtful, seeing as how relations between the Assembly and the Federation never seem to be that cosy. I was actually thinking an already well established humanoid Federation species, played by an actor in prosthetics--a new series still needs to be affordable, so there's no point blowing the budget on Captain Jar Jar

As much as I love Vulcans, there emotional detachment and approach could be difficult for an audience to get behind. A Trill would be good, the spots aren't that distracting for none-fans so wouldn't necessarily scare away new viewers (though to make them different from Jadzia, have the character be just a Host, no Symbiont in sight). Though I would love to see a Bolian Captain. We've seen them everywhere and given little snippets about their biology and culture, but not much as been done about them.

But that's just me.

How about a Deltan?
How about a Cardassian, or a Changeling?
How about a Cyborg? (Doesn't have to be a Borg)
How about a Gorn?

[Bry_Sinclair]

Mars wrote:

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How about a Deltan?

Cool. I'd love to see the Deltans back. It would be interesting to see how that gave a Deltan CO a romance, what with the Oath in place.

Mars wrote:

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How about a Cardassian, or a Changeling?

Skip forward twenty or thirty years and a Cardassian Captain wouldn't be too far-fetched (after all they've had a Klingon and Ferengi officer). The Changelling would be doubtful, seeing their point of view on the Solids, which I doubt wouldn't change anytime soon.

Mars wrote:

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How about a Cyborg? (Doesn't have to be a Borg)

It can't be another Borg. The Borg are an overused and now dreadfully dull species. Another species who utilise cybernetic devices would be interesting, having to face Borgophobia from other crewmembers. Also you could have a normal human officer who was horrendously injured during the war and is now more machine than (wo)man.

Mars wrote:

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How about a Gorn?

If they could find a way to do a better costumed Gorn, I wouldn't mind seeing one on the crew, though maybe not Captain. They will pretty much always be the lead, so should be acceptable to a TV audience. A seven foot, hissing lizard might scare off potential new viewers.