Pure fantasy (sorry about that), but imagine you're contacted by the powers that be and they want YOU to create the new Star Trek TV series for them. What would you like to see in your new series? What setting? Era? Ship? etc. I've got 2 nagging ideas (both ignore anything that might have been covered by novels or games): - A series that picks up in the 'prime' timeline just after Romulas has been destroyed and Spock has 'disappeared'. The Enterprise (I'm thinking maybe an Enterprise-E refit so it's an older ship in the series and maybe no longer the flagship of the fleet) with its new crew assist in evacuating the Romulan survivors but stumble across a plot that hints that the nova that caused the disaster may not have been entirely natural ... after uncovering this conspiracy in the pilot, they're sent off by Admiral William Riker (cameo) on a new mission of exploration but we have the lurking threat of the ongoing conspiracy and perhaps a mysterious new alien race that the Enterprise is trying to locate and contact (for some reason). - Alternatively, a series set on board the Enterprise-B. Mainly because I'm a fan of the look of that era (ships, uniforms, etc) and I think there's a lot of room for stories. Obviously it would be an Enterprise-B refit following the events of Generations but you'd have a new mission of exploration alongside the politics of the new Federation/Klingon alliance and other enemies who might want to break up this new era of peace. Anyway, first post on the forum but I've been lurking for ages. Hope we can have a bit of fun throwing ideas around!
Star Trek - The Reboot Repair A team of Temporal Agents destroy the Narada before it damaged the timeline too much. But some Romulans escaped. The race is on to let the timeline unfold as it should have. This way we can have nu-Trek and prime-Trek all-in-one!
Star Trek Evolution Set across three time periods aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise about a dying race that wants to pass its knowledge onto humanity. But the Enterprise crew has to decode how to find the knowledge.
I would love to see post-Dominion War literature take screen form. Why not just pick up where they left off? The scripts are essentially already written, we're not so close-minded that if needed, new actors could take on old roles (as Trekkies we largely accept the new movie actors as the old characters, with exceptions of course). I would love to see 'Destiny' as a pilot to a TrekLit based reboot. It took three books, but it could totally be done in an 1.5 hour episode and if Voyager taught us anything, the Borg gotta go. Seeing the Voyager reboot novels and the Full Circle Project on-screen is a Trekkie's wet dream.
900 pages (not counting the lead-in books) could be done in an hour-and-a-half? Probably not. Though I have no desire to bring the Trek Lit stuff to TV. Much of the 24th century stuff just isn't very good, in my opinion.
Star Trek: Sliders A ship enters an anomaly and finds itself jumping from universe to universe each episode, getting further and further from home. Their job: Find a way home to the 'Prime'-universe. No need for continuity. The writers don't need to know anything about Star Trek after Season 1!
Debbie Downer!!! Mostly kidding... I beg to differ on the Destiny pilot - I wouldn't mind describing my breakdown but seems it might be a bit of a spoiler for those that haven't read. I think the authors have done a great job with the post-screen plot, I would especially love to see the IKS Gorkon mini-arc...I get a cerebellum boner just thinking about it! To each their own though, I can see why the post-screen plot developments could and should endure criticism.
There was a time when I would have disagreed with that, but yeah, the 24th century novels have gotten tedious the last few years.
On the other hand, as I'm reading Vanguard at the moment, that would make an excellent TV series in my opinion and could be done pretty cheaply set-wise with brand new actors and actresses. A little more Alice Eve wouldn't hurt my eyes, and there's a little room for NuTrek actor cameos. I'm getting the feeling that a new series will likely take the reboot format, but it seems unlikely that a little-screen adaptation will do justice to the big-screen version. Vanguard might be a happy medium and seems easily adaptable.
Post Dominion-war era starship (Galaxy Class) thrown into the future by a one-way time jump during a scientific mission. They emerge in the 27th century (a century that current TV has shown nothing about really) to find the federation and most of the galaxy devastated by extra-galactic invaders. The remaining crew try to rally the remaining worlds including the now-conquered Earth, to form a new Federation and drive the invaders out (but in typical federation style, the solution is more peaceful than wholesale slaughter). ... Then I watched a show called Andromeda about 6 years after finishing DS9 :S
25th century aboard the Enterprise G or H or however far in the alphabet Starfleet has gotten. Cast includes English captain, gay XO, cranky Romulan chief engineer, engineer's assistant who loves using Treknobabbly, much to cranky Romulan chief's ire.
I'd like to see a group of Starfleet officers accidentally get transported to a distant galaxy in the distant past, finding themselves caught up in that galaxy's power struggles and ultimately joining a rebellion against a gigantic, oh I dunno, empire, with a clone army.
Valiant - A story of earth's first faster than light venture into space. Discovering alien species for the first time. Enterprise - Later Star Trek: Enterprise - Replacement of the existing series of the same name. Featuring the ring ship Enterprise. Much better story involving the build up to the Earth-Romulan War. The feature films that center on the war than a few more seasons revolving around the founding of the Federation. Star Trek - Adventures of Captains April, Pike, and Kirk on board the Enterprise NCC-1701. About 20 seasons total with 3 being the existing original material (would need to good writers). The effects and shooting style would be done so as to gradually blending it in with the original material. A mixture of live action and CGI would be used to duplicate the original cast. Star Trek II - The second five year mission with Captain Kirk on board the Enterprise. This would take place after The Motion Picture, but before the Wrath of Khan. Star Trek: Eternity - Set far in the future. the Metrons return and humanity transitions into the next stage of existence. Unnamed ideas: Anthology series. This would be great to fill in stories that would be fun to be told but don't need to be their own series. Bonaventure Series. The S.S Bonaventure designed by eccentric billionaire (firstname) Wrigley, of Wrigley's Pleasure Planet fame. One of earth's early warp ships. Maybe better as a miniseries. Enterprise B and C series. Haven't thought much about it, but it would be fun. Maybe a miniseries. Post-Voyager series. I have some idea for this but can't remember at the moment. 29th century series. Dr. Who-ish wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.
A slight anthology format that shifts from different places: human life on earth, life on a star ship, life of academy cadets, and feature entire episodes dedicated to aliens like Cardassians, Klingons etc., all in the 24th century, and they're all interconnected. Occasionally, a look at historical events like the Earth/Romulan war- Or how the Dominion came to be. No time travel involved, just episodes showing us how it happened. The look we're familiar with can be be the same, but the style has to be different. It has to make 24th century human life and characters look interesting. The theme of all humanity being prosperous and having solved its social problems is kept, of course. However it could be more grittier, contemporary, where people talk normally, curse occasionally, and really show or talk about all that stuff we've always been curious about. It can feature things like an intense debate between former Maquis members and a group of Starfleet officers. Who was really in the right, who was being unreasonable, etc. It will need to be different from the last show's formats in order get fan's and newer viewer's attention.
I'll just drag out may usual contribution to threads on this topic. The "proposal" I put together around the time Voyager was winding up. Oddly enough it was a prequel to TOS. The setting: The USS Enterprise, twenty years before TOS The crew: Captain Robert April: A tough maverick commander who started his career as an enlisted man. Born on the New Tasman Colony April joined Starfleet to escape the boredom and drudgery of colonial life. Rising to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, he was given a battlefield promotion to assume command after his ship's commander was killed and later attended Starfleet's OCS program, receiving an officer's commission. Dr. Sarah Goldman: A former child prodigy of Israeli-Ethiopian decent, Goldman holds advanced degrees in Medicine, Psychology and Physics. Feeling unchallenged in academia Goldman joined Starfleet in the hope of fully utilizing her gifts, skills and knowledge and to be on the cutting edge of new discoveries. She serves as the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer and Science Officer. Commander Nogura: The ship’s XO and a by-the-book officer who's uncomfortable with April’s maverick tendencies. It’s an open secret that he was assigned to the Enterprise to curb those tendencies. Nogura comes from a powerful political family who hold various positions in the governments of Earth and the Federation. They see Starfleet as a stepping stone to politics and have begun to pressure Nogura to leave the service. I figure there would be some conflict between April and Nogura, with Nogura being right on occasion and winning some begrudging respect from April. The "political family" angle would also figure in storylines where UFP politics come into play. Nogura is also a key member of the ships first contact team because he does have a flair for diplomacy. Lt. Commander Slev: An Andorian, who was April’s choice to be XO, Slev serves as the ship's Security Chief. Slender and soft spoken, Slev is often underestimated by opponents unfamiliar with Andorian warrior culture. Slev is also a poet, coming from the Andorian Warrior-Poet tradition. I never followed fanon or Treklit, so my Andorians are based on "Journey to Babel" and my own imagination. My Andorians were a caste based Matriarchy. Each family/social unit is comprised of a female and groups of three males from different castes called a triad. The bond between the males is very deep and can only be broken by death. The number of triads bonded to each female varies. The Matriarchal Council that rules Andor is comprised of the most powerful females. Slev's triad was killed and he is "bond-broken". His membership in the Warrior caste led him to Starfleet, which is one of the few places that will accept a bond broken Andorian. He thinks of April and the Chief as his triad bond brothers, even though he is no longer bonded to a matriarch. All males become part of their father's caste. (Somehow they know which member of the triad is the father) All females are raised separate from the males to become matriarchs. I did base the idea of the triad on the comment that there are four participants in an Andorian wedding, but kept the sexes involved to two. “The Chief” CPO Moqs: A Tellerite, he's the top non-commissioned officer on the ship and runs engineering. A former drill instructor at Starfleet's boot camp, he terrifies most of the junior crewmen, who live in fear of a temporary assignment to Engineering. He's also April's oldest friend. Lt. Chris Pike: The ship's helmsman. Devoted, loyal and a bit too serious, he would literally lay down his life for the Captain, the ship and the crew. April thinks he needs to loosen up and trust his instincts more. Lt. (jg). Maggie Garcia: Quiet and shy, she is ironically the ship's Communications Officer. Unknown to most of the crew, Garcia is a decendent of the Eugenic supermen who plunged Earth into war centuries ago. Smarter and stronger than most humans, but raised in isolation by scientists, Garcia is socially awkward and at times uncomfortable with "normals" and fears their reaction to her background. April, whose ancestors fought and died in the Eugenics Wars, isn't pleased to have her aboard. Goldman is her "sponsor" and one of the chief designers of the program to "mainstream" Eugenic Humans. Garcia was the "number one" candidate for this program. Anyone known to have an augment background is pretty much kept under lock and key by the Government of Earth. (The UFP turns a blind eye to this "internal matter") Part of the reason for this is the augment process causes various mental problems (paranoia, megalomania, sociopathic tendencies.) Garcia is on an experimental drug regimen to keep this under control. Which probably contributes to her shyness and quiet demeanor. All the above would be plot points for various episodes and arcs Ensign Gwenhwyfar "Lou" Llewellyn: Garcia's roommate and polar opposite. Llewellyn serves as ship's Navigator/weapons officer,. Loud, loquacious and uninhibited Lou is an interstellar incident waiting to happen. A Starfleet brat who's mother is an Admiral, Lou has probably logged more space hours and been on more planets than all but the most experienced crewmen. Any hope by her parents that Starfleet would temper her attitudes have thus far been proven false. The main antagonists would have been the Orions
Giving more life to Pike and April would definitely be true to the Captain-centric theme persistent in all Treks, plus a lot of us would like to see those guys in action. Plus Pike ties into the reboot, I think a reboot tie-in is going to absolutely necessary to any new Trek we might see on TV in the next decade or so. Who would you cast as Robert April, hypothetically? That would be a make it or break it casting choice.
I posted this in another thread, but since this is the topic... Me, I'd start by figuring out what the "bottom" of the show is: who it's about and why we should care. I'd also figure out what the themes of the show are and what kinds of characters and conflicts would best illustrate it. I'd then make a list of "don'ts", which I do for any project. I figure out what doesn't appeal to me and what's lazy and banish them: the transporter as we know it would be the first thing to go, as would human-alien hybrids, and virtual reality type holodeck things (which just encourage the writers to make episodes in genres which aren't the show... if you want to write a 60s spy show, write it for some other show). I'd also look into which good science fiction short stories and radio plays might make a suitable basis for episodes and buy the rights to those (such as Murray Leinster's "First Contact", which is a very clever take on the idea). I'd then I'd also try to hammer out about 40 episode one-liners to see if I could come up with story ideas without repeating myself. If I can't that means I haven't yet hit on a "story making engine" formula yet and have to think it over the ideas some more.