No, Abrams not giving a damn about Star Trek is based on his own words. He's said time and time again "He didn't get it." or "He was more of a Star Wars fan." How perfect that as soon as Disney starts making a new Star Wars film, JJ jumps ship as much as his contact will allow him to. Come on, can't you put two and two together?
Harve Bennett similarly admitted to not being a Star Trek fan when he took over as Executive Producer of the franchise after The Motion Picture. DS9's Ira Steven Behr says he hated the show in "How Star Trek/William Shatner Changed the World". Star Wars has always been a dream of Abrams' - who on Earth would deny him it?
And when Brannon Braga joined the TNG staff, Gene Roddenberry himself told Braga not to watch the original series.
Yeah, I don't understand the logic (or lack thereof) either. - Abrams sucks! He doesn't get Star Trek! I wish he was gone! * Abram signs up with Disney/Star Wars. - How dare he leave! Traitor! He doesn't give a damn about Star Trek! Honestly, if this was a dream of his, let him have his fun. If someone came to me today and said "You can run either Star Trek or Star Wars" (yeah right, as if that'll happen). It'd be a hard choice for me to make.
That, in summary, reminds me of the book title I Hate You—Don't Leave Me: Understanding the Borderline Personality.
Whatever drama there is between Abrams and CBS it's certainly not the cause of no new series. CBS is running intensive focus group studies on prospective new series ideas, and has come to the conclusion that a new Star Trek series would be more expensive to make and would not get as good ratings as CSI: Walla Walla or Crime Show from the 80s Reboot. If that ever changes, that is when CBS will make a Star Trek show.
You're assuming that the group saying statement 1 and the group saying statement 2 are the same group. Clearly they are NOT. I for one wish he was completely gone from ST and had nothing to do with the new movie.
Here's a link to an article from The Wrap, regarding JJ Abrams' and CBS's disagreement over merchandising. link I can go digging for an article from Variety, the Huffington Post, or the like but it would be in another post. [EDIT: I don't post on (or even read) TrekBBS anywhere near as much as I used to but I'm surprised a question about a reputable link hasn't come up before in the XI+ Forum or GTD or here or that it wasn't debated, proven, or disproven. I figured this would've been dealt with or addressed somewhere before, so I didn't feel a need to post any type of link. Not a problem, just surprised.] On another note, I don't mind that JJ Abrams is directing Star Wars, Episode VII.
That's one of the articles that milojthatch linked to. Well, I doubt there's anything really substantial out there, but if you or anyone can find it, I'm interested. If all there is is rumor, though, there's really no basis for concluding anything, because I can imagine scenarios that lay the blame for whatever impasse there is on anybody.
I'm curious now too. It was something I just took for granted, to be honest. I'll see what I can find. If I can't, then I'll let you guys know about that too. I'm about to eat, so I'm not going to search right at the moment.
The Wrap was the only source that reported on it at the time. Trek Movie said it was bunk on their Twitter, apparently, but I haven't been able to find the Tweet (I'm not that familiar with Twitter, honestly). In any event, it was based on an anonymous source, and not picked up by Variety or Hollywood Reporter (which you would expect, if it had basis) after it was posted. I somehow doubt that Abrams was that unfamiliar with the ownership of the IP before he got involved in the first movie. You don't get to his position without being a little savvy. And, if he was so dissatisfied, why did he come back to direct the second film? It just doesn't add up.
I put the following words into a Google search: "variety huffington post jj abrams cbs merchandise star trek" I got 10 pages of nothing. So, the question becomes whether or not The Wrap is credible. What is their track record? If they're reliable, I'd give the benefit of the doubt. If they're not, then obviously not. Someone else can feel free to do a separate sort of search if they like but, to quote a line from 12 Angry Men, "I now have reasonable doubt."
While I don't really believe that all this is true, I have to admit that if CBS ever revived Trek on TV, that these two shows are probably the way they would go. Also, there's some economy of scale in doing two shows at once instead of one. More bang for the SFX bucks.
Er, yeah, that was the quote the OP posted at the beginning of this thread, which had been proven false.