You're the Producer ...

[JarodRussell]

Cancel it.

[R. Star]

^

Figured it was only a matter of time before that popped up.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Shazam! wrote:

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Everything would have been redesigned from the ground up. Where TOS was ostensibly 60's, I would have taken a 1950's influence. The Enterprise would have resembled a 1950's rocket ship, there would be flying saucers and big bug-eyed aliens and sentient blobs in space.

I would do away with all the boring stuff (ie. UFP, Starfleet, politics etc) and focus primarily on a ship in the middle of nowhere encountering weird stuff. It would be lighter in tone and made more accessible by abandoning any season long story-arcs. I would embrace the reset button but not in regards to character evolution.

Tonally, it would be similar to nu-Doctor Who, Sherlock, Firely etc. Smart scripts and stories not afraid to take risks.

I'd keep Scott Bakula as he was the only cast member with any on screen chemistry with those around him.

It would be a spectacular failure of course, but would hopefully be remembered fondly.

Oh, I'd watch that. I love all your ideas.

[JarodRussell]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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Oh, I'd watch that. I love all your ideas.

Would have been a big change from contemporary science fiction (TOS was ostensibly 60s, well, because it was made in the 60s) to commentary/parody/homage/mockery of past science fiction eras.

[T'Girl]

latkah wrote:

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Captain Natalie Portman

She would have been twenty years old at the time. Interesting move, I like it. Would have brought in the all important 18 - 25 youth demographic.

Shazam! wrote:

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It would be lighter in tone

I like this, not to the point of being a comedy, but put some humor into the fact none of them have a clue about what they're doing out there.

Bry_Sinclair wrote:

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Oh and shift it forward ten years, just after the Romulan Wars and the formation of the Federation.

I'd go the other direction multiple decades. Consider this change, the warp drive is like the jet engine. First used on aircraft in 1939, three decades later they are everywhere. Military, commercial and private.

It's the same way with the warp drive (first flight 2063), by the year 2090 Humanity is exploding outward from Earth, very haphazard, colonies, trade with aliens, private exploration. A lot of alien toes are getting stepped on, the surrounding civilizations have never seen expansion like this before. And pirates are hitting Human ships.

Starfleet is formed in 2110 to attempt to bring order to this building chaos.

Not a universally popular idea with all Humans. Some members nations of United Earth have already formed their own armed fleets to protect their colonies and trade corridors. The New United Nations has a small armed fleet. As do some private corporations.

The show's first season is set in 2120

jinglebellrok wrote:

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Mandy Patinkin as Phlox

Phlox is one of the characters I'd leave alone, casting and backstory. I'd keep Trip and Hoshi too. But I would keep her first season Hoshi for the entire run.

[Melakon]

Given Star Trek's history of using actors of shorter stature in unusual roles (the Halkans, Ferengi, Platonian dwarf Alexander, little gold guys in Journey to Babel), Peter Dinklage has to be in the cast somehow.

And presuming this is still 2001, Dinklage is two years away from his breakthrough role in The Station Agent, so he wouldn't be expensive.

[teacake]

Natalie Portman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If we are going to upgrade ourselves that much for the Doctor might as well have Cumberbatch.

[jespah]

Natalie Portman FTW!

I want her to be Jewish in canon. I want to see a seder in the Mess Hall.

[Gaith]

I'd...

- Can Keating, or maybe make him a nurse. Cast a badass martial artist Asian dude as security chief.

- Can Montgomery, and hire an African, or someone who can do a flawless, reasonably thick African accent.

- Retain Polly, but keep her in standard Vulcan garb, and not in the chain of command - have the pilot be first officer.

- Terminate the TCW, but make the series a parallel universe show (not a XI-like altered timeline).


... The ultimate thing is, though, that the very concept of Enterprise as a show thrusts into the forefront the paradox at the heart of Trek, namely: why are humans so special/so central to the UFP? Dozens if not hundreds of other species have been warping around for centuries more. I've never quite figured it out, and have always thought it best to ignore the question, much as one ignores why Star Warsians speak English (/"Basic"), a combination of Latin and Germanic languages. Not sure whether this question should be addressed, or ignored further.


One more idea for y'all:

- Split the premiere into two parts: the first hour a real-time action ep, a la 24 but with transporters and such, and the second a repair-based ep that flashes back to the lighter times of assembling the crew (see: West Wing's "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen").

[teacake]

Melakon wrote:

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Given Star Trek's history of using actors of shorter stature in unusual roles (the Halkans, Ferengi, Platonian dwarf Alexander, little gold guys in Journey to Babel), Peter Dinklage has to be in the cast somehow.

How about real bravery on the part of me, the Producer. Make Dinklage the captain and make him a slut.

[T'Girl]

Gaith wrote:

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much as one ignores why Star Warsians speak English (/"Basic")

I grew up watching Star Trek in Spanish (VHS).

ST: Enterprise is the first series I saw "live" in English.

I assume that much of what was spoken during Amok Time was in a Vulcan language and not a Human one.

When there are just Cardassians in the room, they aren't speaking English to each other.

[lurok]

Some of my earliest memories of Trek are with characters speaking German, so I also found it a bit of a cultural shock when finally saw them speaking native tongue

[MacLeod]

And as other have mentioned, ditch the TCW. It served no real purpose. I might even go so far as to not have the Klingons in at all.

As for the Romlans slowly fold them into the story muchas DSN did with the Dominion, have the odd reference dropped into the odd episode.

Maybe add a new recurring character a civilian who is there to represent the United Earth Parliament, in dealings with new species.

[R. Star]

MacLeod wrote:

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Maybe add a new recurring character a civilian who is there to represent the United Earth Parliament, in dealings with new species.

This would've made a lot of sense. Certainly having a Vulcan on board as a diplomatic observer and advisor would've made much more sense too rather than ramming one in as an actual officer of the crew.

[lurok]

MacLeod wrote:

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And as other have mentioned, ditch the TCW. It served no real purpose. I might even go so far as to not have the Klingons in at all.

As for the Romlans slowly fold them into the story muchas DSN did with the Dominion, have the odd reference dropped into the odd episode.

I agree with ditching the TCW and Klingons. They just feel over-used. But keep the S4 Augment arc. I'd rather have had Romulans much earlier and more prominent (but in better uniforms than NEM castoffs ). A female Romulan Commander v Archer/T'Pol might have been an interesting dynamic as well as nod to TOS.