If big budget/shiny SFX space opera is out of the question...

[BillJ]

C.E. Evans wrote:

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When looked in its entirety, the bulk of Trek stories do consist of spaceships and weird shit going on out in the cosmos.

Those three things (spaceships, aliens and weird shit going on in the cosmos) make Star Trek what it is. In my opinion, a series that lacks any of those three components really isn't Star Trek.

[Mage]

C.E. Evans wrote:

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Not really. First and foremost, Trek is an adventure series in space. Society issues, modern day allegories, etc.,--all that stuff is really incidental. It's not what really drives Trek, although it is an often cited and hailed aspect of it. When looked in its entirety, the bulk of Trek stories do consist of spaceships and weird shit going on out in the cosmos.

I'm not sure I agree. Even looking at some of the interviews on ST:TMP dvd, it's stated that Gene wanted a series that could tell stories about social issues, but that he layered it in make-up and sfx so he could sell it. Sure, there were those other stories/episodes as well, but the core idea was something else.

[C.E. Evans]

Mage wrote:

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I'm not sure I agree. Even looking at some of the interviews on ST:TMP dvd, it's stated that Gene wanted a series that could tell stories about social issues, but that he layered it in make-up and sfx so he could sell it. Sure, there were those other stories/episodes as well, but the core idea was something else.

Like George Lucas said about Star Wars being always about the story of Anakin Skywalker, Roddenberry has also changed his tune about what Star Trek was meant to be. But from the earliest--even going back to Roddenberry's initial notes--Trek was designed to be an action-adventure series. He even described it as such himself:

"Star Trek is a 'Wagon Train' concept--built around characters who travel to worlds 'similar' to our own, and meet the action-adventure-drama which become our stories."
--Gene Roddenberry, First draft of Star Trek, 1964
http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Star_T...Trek_Pitch.pdf

The more enlightened stuff came about along the way and was praised in hindsight. Roddenberry can be credited, however, for creating something in which that was possible, due mostly to what he called his "parallel worlds" concept that was as much a money-saving idea (to use various existing television and movie sets) than anything else.