Premieres this fall, only on the CW. Actually I wouldn't mind seeing that idea unfold. ST09 was sort of like that, except they skipped most of the Academy stuff.
Many advocates of a Academy series (like myself) believe that such a show wouldn't be a intense action/adventure space show, but instead would be more a character driven drama series set in a future San Fransisco. More about people. So there wouldn't be long meaningless special effect battles, the galaxy going to end every third episode, somebody going to die. Admittedly this would be absent. One of the stated reasons that Roddenberry created Star Trek was to examine and comment on (then) modern society, an Academy series could employ science fiction for contemporary commentary in a way that a starship based series couldn't, because the Academy series would likely have civilians as part of the main character group.
For most likely versions of an Academy show you'd be targeting the Buffy / Smallville audience more than the Star Trek audience. Which some people might not think is a bad thing... but I think the main problem is that niche is already served by plenty of other properties.
Which is what people said about DS9 prior to it's premiere. That niche is a popular one, and yes the Academy show would be aimed at that demographic, people who watch young fantasy. But shows like Arrow have adults in primary roles and their appeal isn't just the youth market, but instead the 18 through 34 demographic. Telling the network that the show would be standing directly in the flow of money is bad?
I would assume that telling the network you plan to carve off a piece of a pie after a bunch of other people got there first might not lead to very much. But who knows? Maybe they'd love it. Sure as shit isn't something I would watch, but I don't care for Smallville or Supernatural either and they both did just fine.
An Enterprise-era 2156-2161 continuation. If indeed, not simply the Season 5 that could've been. Cast & crew reunion. Some substitutions or characters added... like bringing Shran onboard. Sets rebuilt. NX redesign or TMP-style refit if sometime has passed, whatever. The whole shebang. Well, the question was asked of me, and I answered it by saying what I want! Now let us never speak of this ever again...
After four male captains and one female captain, my ideal Star Trek show would be with an alien captain at the helm. Preferably Andorian. Maybe an Andorian female.
Ever since DS9 and VOYAGER, I was expecting the next TREK show to spotlight a Klingon captain. No doubt that would boost the budget.
Somene did some character sections for an animated series covering the Titan novelization- I'd totally be on board for that.
The show which got a starship added to it to seem more trekish? Besides DS9 had its characters occasionally go places and do Star Trekish wondering around on alien planets stuff. You're idea is to follow a bunch of kids who can't really do anything important on the most boring planet in the federation, hell maybe the entire galaxy. So really apples and oranges.
In regards to an alien captain, while it might be neat, I don't expect an official Trek TV show to ever star a captain who isn't human. But this thread's about what we'd like to see in a Trek series, not what we probably would see...
I would like a series based ST-V's Relativity with a variant of the Wells Class Temporal Cruiser. Being able to bring new characters into existing shows like 'Trials and Tribulations', fixing all those continuity errors we hate so much, being able to be just about anywhere/anytime... One thing about Trek- the vast universe of TOS became too familiar with each new series. We then saw the show reaching further out to introduce new life- first the Gamma Quadrant, then the Delta. They had what used to be mysterious new races becoming so familiar that they either got boring or joined the crew in the next series. ST-Enterprise made the mistake of going into time the wrong direction. We already knew about the universe they were first starting to explore, we could see when things did not match up or violated canon. I really liked that show, but it had the deck stacked against it. The novels from 'Department of Temporal Investigations' are pretty interesting- especially when they meet people from their future who cannot violate the same codes and help them out. Being able to have a story set in any time period you want could be really fun. Seeing the Daedalus-class USS Horizon visit Sigma Iotia II and start the cultural contamination, the Romulan War, First Contact with the Klingons, so much of Trek history could be seen for the first time and from a fresh perspective...
The cadets would be late teens through early/mid-twenties. And not all the characters would to be cadets. There would also be the instructors at the Academy, some would be Starfleet officers, others civilians. Outside of the Academy, there'd be those who live in 23rd or 24th century San Fransisco. Most dramas you would find on TV are not about people who are involved in "the galaxy going to end in two minutes." But not all previous Trek episodes slavishly follow that format either. San Fransisco could be depicted as a very cosmopolitan city with a high percentage of numerous alien species living there. The cadets and instructors would have friends in the city. If you don't care for dramas in general as a format type, then admittedly this wouldn't be for you. However, dramas in general tend to be among the most popular and longest running type of TV programming. They're less about events, and more about characters. One of the most popular episodes of TOS was "City on the Edge of Forever," which was a drama, not an action-adventure episode. If you look at the fan consensus of "best episodes," many are dramas and not a let's fire the phasers again episodes.
Boring as in nothing happens there, do you honestly think people give two s@#ts about future humanity, or how the federation is run, or what 23rd or 24th century Earth is like?
Star Trek 90210? No thanks. I wouldn't mind a TOS-era prime timeline show, set on another of the 12 Connies. P2 and STC have shown that the sets and costumes can look great in HD. It could even be in the TOS-movie era, with a refit. That would be cool, too. With the right team it could recapture the fun and adventure of TOS. It could be a huge success.
If it's well written, yes of course. Look at all the successful drama shows today that have no space battles. Look at all the fantasy shows without space battles. Seriously, what what on your wish list has a chance?
Could a show in the vien of say The West Wing work for Star Trek possibly but in the end it all comes down to how well written it was.
Some could be older as well, not everyone will decide to become a Starfleeter in their teens. It'd be interesting to have a character in their late 20s or early 30s have a life changing event that made them enroll, so they have considerably more experience to draw upon. Or a Rhaandarite character, who are androgynous and only reach maturity at 150 Earth years old. If done right from the beginning, I am all for an Academy-based series, one which focuses on the character dynamics and not space battles or babes in catsuits.