I’m sure this has been touched on here, but it’s interesting to speculate on what might be coming in the next STAR TREK show. What I’d like to discuss what we can realistically expect, not what fan-fantasies would be cool. I doubt highly (and am sad to say) we’re never going to see a Primeverse DS9 mini-series or any other such projects speculated about through the years. Like most TREK fans, I love my TOS, TNG, DS9 and Abrams’ TREK... and Abrams TREK is the only game in town now. Let’s realize that fight is over (and fantastically pointless at this hour). So I’m wondering what we can realistically expect. With the success of the Abrams’ TREK, Paramount’s excitement at the revitalized franchise, etc. what is coming in the next show? Given what we know (Abrams TREK is a big success) and can confirm, (Paramount is running hard and fast for STAR TREK 2 and 3) the picture for the next TV version of TREK seems to be clearing... My bet is a new NEXT GENERATION is more likely than not. Here’s the thinking for that bet: Paramount will be riding the Kirk/Spock story through the next two or more movies (2011 for 2 and 2013 at the earliest for 3). That strongly suggests we won’t see anything set in the Abramsverse TOS on TV until 2014. But is Paramount content to wait until then? Who knows, but when has Hollywood gone slow when the iron is hot to make money? So Paramount would like to make cash, whatever creative team tasked with the new show would probably want to shy away from TOS... logically, that leads to a TNG setting. A bonus: With remakes all the rage, Paramount could easily salivate at the prospect of newly excited TREK fans anticipating/hyping/screaming for Picard, Data, etc., all polished with modern effects/serial storytelling/and adult drama. So, is this crazy? What would you like to see from a redone TNG? Would a blend of modern effects with LOST/BSG style serialized storytelling be to your liking? What would you like to see of newly reimagined Borg? Cardassians? Ferengi? Would revisited versions of “The Best of Both Worlds” / “Inner Light” / “Measure of a Man” / “Yesterday’s Enterprise” / "All Good Things" And if we’re not likely to see a new TNG... What realistically can we expect from the next STAR TREK show?
Kirk and Spock are the selling point of the franchise at the moment. Any show featuring other characters may as well be set in the prime-verse, because it would be a show about a crew doing stuff in space. Was a 'reboot' really needed for that?
The only motive for a TV series would be to capitalize on the movie series' success. So it has to be in the Abrams-verse, in the 23rd C. It's doubtful that all the movie actors will opt to join a TV series, so the cast would most likely be new characters, perhaps introduced in the movies as tertiary characters. The movie characters would make cameo appearances to boost ratings. The TV series would not stray too far from the familiar territory of Starfleet Going Boldly. No alien-perspective series, civilian series, far-future series or other exotica. The series would be made by CBS but would not air there; totally the wrong demo. It might be licensed to NBC or Fox. Possibly it would end up on basic cable (Skiffy, TNT, AMC?) It won't be in the prime-verse. They're gonna need Pine and Quinto to make guest cameos for the sake of the ratings. The whole point is to capitalize on the movies' success, so why would they fail to do the obvious thing?