New Star Trek Series: What would you use?

[IrishNero]

If Paramount allowed the creation of a new TV series, what characters/elements of the previous 5 series would you want to incorporate, if any?

I'll go first:

TOS: Bones. He would provide the dry wit and pessimism. Oh, and plenty of red shirts to sacrifice.

TNG: Another Data who could provide the logical perspective, and a figure like Picard to lead the thing

DS9: Crew Interaction. The station provided a setting upon which they could really explore diverse, new characters.

VOY: Move into the future a bit and expand the federation to include new species. The ship would be a bit smaller and more agile than the large Galaxy-class ships.

ENT: Commander Shran. Easily the best character of the series. I wouldn't mind Coto's involvement in the writing either.

What I probably wouldn't use from any of the series: Time travel of any sort, Klingons and Ferengi. -Time to give these guys a rest.

 

[wildsulu]

Nice topic. (though it wouldn't surprise me if an administrator would move this discussion)

TOS: fist fights like Kirk does. I always liked them. Much better than turning the whole movie/episode into one big action scene.

TNG: alien cultures, I think TNG did it best (closely followed by TOS). No repetition of Data please, but I like your idea of having a Picard-like figure.

DS9: the politics

VOY: the fact that they couldn't just call starfleet to come over and help

ENT: I liked the ship and the state of technology. Not too much iPhone, not too much jelly beans

 

[Orphalesion]

I would not use any character templates or "homages" to iconic characters/character relationships from the old shows. Stuff like that was one of the nails in the coffin of old Trek if you ask me. A new series should be bold and original, not constantly look to the past.
We already had Data, he was awesome, Data 2.0 would (imho) only be a lesser rippoff.

As for elements....also not sure if I'd want to see any. I can say I'd like a move towards more serious, mature and serialized storytelling like DS9 "only more so" if that makes sense.

What I would definitely not use:

1) No time travel, agree there. When I want time travel, I go watch Doctor Who.
2) No primary focus on Klingons, Ferengi, agree there too and would add Vulcans to that list, possibly Bajorans and Cardassians too as much as I love them. Instead dig out some of the more forgotten species like Andorians, Orions and Deltans and focus on those.
3) No random, meaningless redshirt deaths, I just find that tasteless, especially if it's followed up by the "everybody laughs ending" Death is serious and should have an impact.
4) No everybody laughs ending.
5) No completely episodic format. That seems to have already gotten old by the time of TNGs 5th season and had overstayed its welcome by Voyager.
6) No plots focused solely on techno babble
7) No perfectly evolved, conflictless uberemenschen like they tried (and failed) to sell in TNG's first season,
8) No alien/artificial character who is just there "to provide commentary on what it means to be human" That stopped being original after Data. And started being just plain annoying with the EMH.

 

[HIjol]

1. A new version of The Enterprise. Updated, not Unrecognizable

2. A Star Date after TNG and VOY, but not too far so that references could not be made, sparingly to past people, places and missions

3. Humor. Not a comedy show, but also not afraid to tweak and poke fun, from time to time.

4. Characters with personal, as well as professional relationships. Certainly a Captain, also a "Second in Command". Some kind of "Chief", yes, a Doctor, but I would totally steal the idea of an EMH here.

5. The absolute best music money could buy, from first frame to last.

 

[IrishNero]

Nice topic. (though it wouldn't surprise me if an administrator would move this discussion)

Thanks. I didn't think any of the series folders was appropriate as the topic applies to all.

Some interesting perspectives so far. I guess this how new series are born. Hopefully, Paramount is listening.

 

[hux]

I would set it in the NuTrek universe (but that wouldn't remove the events of TNG, DS9 or Voyager, it would simply reboot them offscreen to incorporate the changes) so most of the characters and events would have continued as before but with a few tweaks.....less references to Vulcan for a start

I would set it roughly the same amount of time after Voyager as has actually passed (so you're open for TNG, DS9, Voyager guest appearances)

I would have a big cast and make it character based (so perhaps more than one ship.....maybe a new war.....maybe we see the opposing view points of Starfleet and its new enemy) a deeper, richer setting than just exploration

I would make it less episodic and have an arc that requires characters to grow, change, develop. I don't mind one off episodes that are silly or fun or even involve time travel but they would be the exception, not the rule

A better set for the ships. I don't want to cut from one area to another. I want the camera to follow a crew member from the bridge all the way to engineering. I want it to feel like I'm on board an actual ship that has departments and crew and officers and people working and etc etc

A closer look at the Federation and it's societies and whether or not everyone is as happy as we're supposed to think they are

More awesome

 

[BillJ]

I'd use whatever I needed to make the series entertaining.

 

[1001001]

Nice topic. (though it wouldn't surprise me if an administrator would move this discussion)

Thanks. I didn't think any of the series folders was appropriate as the topic applies to all.

No, but it's perfect for Future of Trek...

 

[IrishNero]

Gotcha! I guess I should have scrolled a little more.

 

[C.E. Evans]

For me:

TOS: The latest successor to the Enterprise NCC-1701, Vulcans, TOS-era Klingons, TOS-era Romulans, Andorians, the Federation, Starfleet, female miniskirt uniforms, bug-eyed monsters, Vasquez Rocks

TNG: TNG-era Klingons, TNG-era Romulans, the Borg (only two times though), Betazoids, positronic androids, civilians on starships, Galaxy-class starships

DS9: Deep Space Nine (we'd see it used merely as a dock in an episode or two), the Bajoran wormhole, Jem'Hadar soldiers & ships

VOY: Quantum slipstream drive, Intrepid-class starships, Nova-class starships, Prometheus-class starships, compact hand phasers, compression phaser rifles

ENT: The period of bad blood between Vulcans and Andorians, the Xindi attack on 22nd-Century Earth, pre-Federation Starfleet history (including the exploits of Captain Archer and the NX-01 Enterprise)

 

[Orphalesion]

TOS-era Klingons, TOS-era Romulans

TNG-era Klingons, TNG-era Romulans

Wouldn't that be kind of impossible to have both versions at once? Or do you mean they could be like different cultures/ethnicities within the same species?
That would be very interesting!

 

[C.E. Evans]

TOS-era Klingons, TOS-era Romulans

TNG-era Klingons, TNG-era Romulans

Wouldn't that be kind of impossible to have both versions at once? Or do you mean they could be like different cultures/ethnicities within the same species?
That would be very interesting!

Yep, and some stories could be about how the different types of Klingons and Romulans regard both each other and the Federation.

 

[maneth]

X-posted from elsewhere online...

I'd like to see a show centered on a smallish research vessel, the type they send to investigate interesting planets found by other ships. Preferably in the Beta quadrant, which we really haven't seen much of yet. Set it in the 27th century to eliminate the opportunity for cameo appearances by Trek stars from other shows, that's getting old already... This would also present the opportunity for some completely unforeseen disaster to have struck the Federation or even the entire Alpha quadrant in the intervening centuries, so that it would no longer be the absolute power it had been previously.

As for diversity, maybe it's time for an alien captain? Maybe even a Romulan one, assuming the Romulans joined the Federation at some point. Or perhaps Andorian? At any rate, the crew, including bridge officers, should be 2/3 non-human.

Another idea would be a transgendered human captain. I'm assuming an advancement in transporter/replicator technology by the 27th century, it would be possible to rebuild an entire human being simply by changing the person's DNA. Going from male to female would be relatively easy, the system would simly eliminate each Y-chromosome and replace it with a duplicate X. Going from female to male would involve the deletion of one X-chromosome in each cell and the addition of a close male relative's (brother, father or nephew) Y-chromosome. Of course, it would not be quite this simple, because men and women are built differently and have different amounts of cells of various types, but the system would have quite advanced software to take this into account. For sure, the process would take at the very least a few hours, but sooner or later, the person would emerge with his or her memories intact, just with a different body. A fully working, fertile body of the gender they always felt they were.

I would also like to have a Vulcan science officer paired with a human assistant somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Perhaps the Federation will learn to eliminate autism, but I rather hope they'll learn to adapt to it, at least to those with a less severe disorder, so that they'll be able to make a contribution to society. I've always felt that the Vulcans would get along famously with people who have Asperger's, for example.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I'd just reboot TOS, or do an Earth-based Academy series, prebooting TOS Smallville/Gotham style. Characters like GATT2000 (the cyborg in the last movie) could be added as a pseudo-Data.

I'd keep time travel, it's a solid part of Trek lore and has been since episode #2.

 

[IrishNero]

Wouldn't you think that re-booting the original series would start to give Trek that Spiderman feeling? I think there are so many stories that can be told without dipping back into that barrel yet again. -Just a thought.

 

[Orphalesion]

Yep, and some stories could be about how the different types of Klingons and Romulans regard both each other and the Federation.

Love it! Would be good to give the Star Trek races some much needed cultural depth.

As to the Academy reboot. Oh please not. Aren't the new movies already close enough to that? I don't need to see the TOS people as immature cadets yet again.

 

[Mudd]

Everything and everybody from TOS.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'd use everything that I thought worked, no matter which show/century they're from.

 

[IrishNero]

Yes, it wouldn't be good to be boxed in by past series. A balanced approach would bring back old viewers and create new ones.

 

[BillJ]

I'd use everything that I thought worked, no matter which show/century they're from.

+1