The "Star Trek" series that would work on CBS

[Lord Garth]

If CBS made a sitcom out of The Captains, then this is a "Star Trek" series that would work for them. William Shatner and Patrick Stewart could be like The Odd Couple. William Shatner would always be trying to swoon over Kate Mulgrew. Avery Brooks would be the nextdoor neighbor.

I'm semi-serious.

I prefer NBC style sitcoms but this is an approach that CBS would like.

[Dukhat]

Lord Garth wrote:

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If CBS made a sitcom out of The Captains, then this is a "Star Trek" series that would work for them. William Shatner and Patrick Stewart could be like The Odd Couple. William Shatner would always be trying to swoon over Kate Mulgrew. Avery Brooks would be the nextdoor neighbor.

I'm semi-serious.

I prefer NBC style sitcoms but this is an approach that CBS would like.

Okay, so I had to Google "The Captains" to find out just what you were talking about. Now that I know, I'd have zero interest in watching a show like that, and worse, a sitcom format would make Star Trek hard to take seriously ever again.

Abrams made Trek popular again. Do you really want something like this to completely ruin what he did?

[Lord Garth]

Um, no I don't. I was barely taking my thread seriously.

It's not what I'd want to see. It's also not something I'd put passed CBS, though I doubt it would happen.

[C.E. Evans]

The closest thing to a Star Trek series on CBS would be The Big Bang Theory in that there have been a ton of Trek references there, perhaps the most since ENT went off the air...
http://wiki.the-big-bang-theory.com/...rek_References

[Lord Garth]

I used to watch TBBT, but lost track of it after the first two years. I used to think Sheldon and not Leonard would end up with Penny eventually. I don't know if they have or not.

[The Green Mushroom]

In the same vein as the original thought, the best way to make a Star Trek series on CBS would be to have the crew of the Enterprise become trapped on modern day Earth by a time traveling alien serial killer. To find a way home the crew joins the police department and each week they must solve a murder in the hope of tracking down the alien intelligence that brought them to the past.

Kirk and Spock are the lead detectives. McCoy is the medical examiner. Scott, Sulu and Chekov are crime scene investigators. Uhura gets a job as a 911 operator. Every now and then Guinan or Data's Head appears to give them cryptic clues to solve the murder of the week or locate another piece of the Enterprise.

And once a season they join forces with NCIS and the Las Vegas police to take the next step in their quest to stop the alien serial killer.

[Temis the Vorta]

The moral of this thread is: for Star Trek to be on CBS, it has to not be Star Trek anymore.

[Anji]

No, no, no. Temis, didn't you mention something about Star Trek as animation? Why can't they do that? Fox has "The Simpsons", Comedy Central "South Park"...well I don't want Star Trek to be as funny as they are but animae is now considered a legitimate TV format.

Go for the anime. Get the original series members to voice overs. If we could get a good anime company behind us and of course, some kick arse scripts, we're golden.

[Temis the Vorta]

Yes, it could be animation. But CBS doesn't really do animation, and their audience - skewing older and female - doesn't jibe with the audience for animated series. I can't see why they'd be at all interested in an animated series of any sort, much less sci fi.

FOX might do an animated series. The Cartoon Network would be an even better location. Trying to shoehorn Star Trek into CBS is an interesting mental exercise, but I suspect it's doomed to failure.

Fox has "The Simpsons", Comedy Central "South Park"

FOX and Comedy Central are not at all like CBS. Totally different audiences.

[AviTrek]

Anji wrote:

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animae is now considered a legitimate TV format.

Go for the anime. Get the original series members to voice overs. If we could get a good anime company behind us and of course, some kick arse scripts, we're golden.

Sorry, Anime is not considered a legitimate TV format outside of Japan. The only American viewers watching it are a small subset of the sci fi nerds. It's hard to even find Anime airing in the US. CBS is not going to ruin a premiere property by making a show in a niche of a niche of a niche.

If you want to argue Clone Wars as a model, that's reasonable. And I think Temis is right, Cartoon Network would be a perfect fit for a Star Trek show similar to Clone Wars, but that's not anime. I doubt you will even find a US network willing to give a prime time anime show a chance.

[Lord Garth]

Though it's not CBS or Star Trek, I read that Blood and Chrome has been downgraded back to a web series because Universal wanted to go on the cheap and use green screen with scans of Galactica's interiors in the background. They couldn't even be bothered to (re)build the sets. The scans were probably originally intended for limited use on Caprica not extended use on Blood & Chrome. This shows how little one studio is willing to invest in a space series. CBS's thinking might be similar.

AviTrek wrote:

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Sorry, Anime is not considered a legitimate TV format outside of Japan. The only American viewers watching it are a small subset of the sci fi nerds.

Not entirely. Children, 12 and under, who don't know it's anime, also watch. At least the anime that's targeted to them.

For anime geared toward teens or adults, you're right. It's still niche and there's no chance it would air on CBS. Though it would cost less than a live-action series.

[Sindatur]

Lord Garth wrote:

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Though it's not CBS or Star Trek, I read that Blood and Chrome has been downgraded back to a web series because Universal wanted to go on the cheap and use green screen with scans of Galactica's interiors in the background. They wouldn't even be bother to build the sets. The scans were probably originally intended for limited use on Caprica not extended use on Blood & Chrome. This shows how little one studio is willing to invest in a space series. CBS's thinking might be similar.

Is this an actual new recent announcement or still feeding off the rumors that were spread? Last announcement I heard was that it's fate would be decided in February. People have been spreading rumors for months, that's it's been downgraded back to Web Series, and that certainly is possible, but, as much as they've spent on it, I find it difficult to believe they aren't going to try and get some DVD or Advertiszing revenue out of it (Or both).

Yes, it's true, they went with Green Screen, because they thought it would be cheaper than risking building all the sets and then possibly having the Pilot fail. But, what's holding it up, is they didn't realize how time extensive it would be, and they don't have the process down to a Science, as much as Sanctuary does (Takes Sanctuary 44 weeks to make an episode apparently, so they pretty much work around the calendar producing that show)

[Lord Garth]

I'd have to recheck. It was one of the threads on TrekBBS, actually, in the BSG/Caprica forum.

[Sindatur]

Lord Garth wrote:

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I'd have to recheck. It was one of the threads on TrekBBS, actually, in the BSG/Caprica forum.

Yea, I'm pretty sure that's the rumor rearing it's ugly head again.

[C.E. Evans]

Lord Garth wrote:

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Not entirely. Children, 12 and under, who don't know it's anime, also watch. At least the anime that's targeted to them.

For anime geared toward teens or adults, you're right. It's still niche and there's no chance it would air on CBS. Though it would cost less than a live-action series.

Yeah, toy- or game-based anime for kids is still chugging along nicely on Cartoon Network and on the CW on Saturday mornings.

Anime aimed at an older kids and teens like Cartoon Network's defunct Toonami block is a harder sell to advertisers who prefer a younger demo. They're usually consigned to after primetime hours.

Now that I think about it, very few action cartoons air in primetime in general, regardless if they're anime or not.