Describe YOUR new Star Trek series.

[mgummelt]

Yes, realistically, our Galaxy is huge and there would be more stars to explore than the Federation could probably hope to visit in its entire lifetime.

But in Star Trek, the've already visited every quadrant and made the Galaxy feel so small that I felt like it would be best to not pretend that's not the case. Realism aside, they've made the Milky Way too familiar and boring through over-exposure. Humanoids with bumpy heads populate every single quadrant.

What you get from exploring a new galaxy is:

- It's a catchier hook - a "high concept". You can advertise/sell the show easier if you say "the Enterprise begins a new age of exploration in a brand new, unknown galaxy - the Andromeda Galaxy" than if you say "Starfleet explores a backwater of the Delta Quadrant that Voyager missed". It's about the concept of frontierism and exploration, not realism.

- You get to use the conceit of combining all the resources of a Galaxy (The Milky Way) on a grand endeavor - a mission of exploration and discovery. It forces disparate cultures to work together, through tensions and competing values and objectives. It reflects our modern world where we find ourselves having to work with China and Russia and the European Union struggles to hold itself together. It's more reflective of the modern political climate.

- You get a fresh start in a new Galaxy. You can get away from the budget-driven conceit of every alien having to be humanoid (so much so that they had to make the episode "The Chase" to explain how all the Humanoid species were related and seeded here). Yet, because we still have all the old Milky Way species, we can continue to use them on the show, too. But they're not the aliens anymore, they're us, in all our wonderful variety. It makes our surrogates more diverse (reflecting our own modern diversity) while allowing the aliens to be *truly* alien.

- We get to see a real frontier story, more like TOS. In my series arc, the Enterprise is the first ship in Andromeda, but this is not Voyager. During the course of season 1, Starbase A-1 is being constructed, and by the end of the first season, 2 more ships will join the Enterprise (including one captained by a descendant of Kirk who feels like the Enterprise should have been her ship).

Choosing to explore Andromeda wasn't something I just did because it seemed more dramatic. I did it because I felt like it could take Trek in a new direction, let it grow, let it build off of what came before, and let it recapture some of its original "wagon train to the stars" spirit.

 

[mgummelt]

This question of "Why Andromeda?" got me thinking and let me to write a new blog post about it. I expand on the points I made above. Thanks for the thought-provoking question!

Why Andromeda?

 

[T'Girl]

Choosing to explore Andromeda wasn't something I just did because it seemed more dramatic.

There are eighteen (or so) galaxies outside the Milky Way that are closer to us than Andromeda. While smaller they still contain millions of stars.

 

[mgummelt]

Choosing to explore Andromeda wasn't something I just did because it seemed more dramatic.

There are eighteen (or so) galaxies outside the Milky Way that are closer to us than Andromeda. While smaller they still contain millions of stars.

Yeah, I know. But saying the Enterprise is traveling to the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy or Bootes just doesn't sound all that impressive. I considered the Small and Large Magellenic clouds - they're very interesting with lots of star formation. But, again, not that interesting sounding. Plus they're all much smaller, being satellites of ours. Andromeda is actually larger than the Milky Way. Again, for the sake of selling a compelling concept, I just figured everyone knows the Andromeda galaxy. It's iconic. And there's the history it already has in Trek.

 

[Tim Walker]

What I call the Godzilla Galaxy.

 

[Tim Walker]

And then there is the Triangulum Galaxy.

 

[BillJ]

You can get away from the budget-driven conceit of every alien having to be humanoid (so much so that they had to make the episode "The Chase" to explain how all the Humanoid species were related and seeded here).

But you would still be making a television series. Many aliens would still have to be humanoid because of budget.

 

[mgummelt]

But you would still be making a television series. Many aliens would still have to be humanoid because of budget.

Well, theoretically, there would still be plenty of humanoid aliens - but they'd be from the Milky Way.

And the idea is that this would be a higher budget-per-episode show since there are only 13 episodes a year. This would allow for more "alien" aliens. CGI and make up has come a long way - it would be a lot cheaper and easier to do non-humanoid aliens nowadays.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

^ There is also the problem of CGI characters/races looking dated.

 

[mgummelt]

And then there is the Triangulum Galaxy.

Yeah, Triangulum is the smallest of the 3 major galaxies in the local cluster.

That Godzilla galaxy is awesome! 5 times our size. Pretty cool. Though it's 100 times further away than Andromeda...

But good points, maybe another Galaxy could get involved. In the script, I mention that the Small & Large Magellenic Clouds have already been visited and that they were lifeless, old and dead (though maybe I removed that since observations show that they have a lot of new star formation). Maybe there's another Galaxy invading Andromeda? Maybe the mysterious call from Andromeda that precipitates events is actually a call for help?

 

[mgummelt]

^ There is also the problem of CGI characters/races looking dated.

Hmm, kind of a catch 22. If both humanoids with bumpy foreheads and CGI aliens look dated, what would you do?

I'd argue that bad, old CGI aliens look dated but that new ones done with modern CGI quality/techniques would not. And I'd say that you could still have bipedal aliens that are more than just humanoids with bumpy foreheads (actually, Babylon 5 did a decent job of this, even on a budget).

 

[Tiger Devil Dog]

Hey guys, first post.

I'm a casual fan compared to most of you but I have seen every episode on Netflix. Haven't read any books though.

I think something set in Delta quadrant following up on Voyager's return would be cool. Maybe StarFleet could send a flotilla of several ships and a space station to thoroughly explore the quadrant to expand on Voyager's discoveries there. Obviously they would have to figure out a way to get them there since they collapsed the Borg transwarp tunnels or whatever they were called.

To me, the best part of Voyager was that they were truly alone and unafraid far from home. I like they idea of them being out of constant contact with Star Fleet command and must rely on their own ingenuity and skill to accomplish their missions. That is true exploration to me and that's what Star Trek is really about.

 

[Tim Walker]

Hello, Tiger Devil Dog.

NGC 6872 was described as a barred spiral. The Milky Way has been described as a barred spiral. So an implication is that the NGC 6872 could have life bearing planets.

If a stable wormhole was found (somewhat similar to the Bajoran wormhole) conceivably the heros could end up in NGC 6872.

Imagine an accidental discovery of an unsuspected wormhole, near the heart of the Federation.

I looked at the Wikipedia articles for the Magellenic Clouds. Apparently, astronomers see hints of spiral structure. They think that these were once small spiral galaxies that were disrupted by tidal interactions with other galaxies. I don't know if the Clouds could be life bearing.

 

[Tim Walker]

Number of stars in the Andromeda galaxy? Wikipedia gives an estimate of a trillion stars.

By the way, it turns out that NGC 6872 has already been named-the Condor galaxy. Number of stars? Perhaps two trillion.

 

[tenmei]

I've been working on scribbling this idea down for the past several weeks -


Star Trek: Interstellar


It is about 1000 years after the birth of the Federation, about 300 years after its collapse. Just over three centuries earlier, a catastrophic incident made warp travel impossible. With trips between neighbouring inhabited systems being lengthy and difficult, the Federation fractures and collapses. Individual systems become microcosms of the Federation, citizenships consisting of members of numerous planets, both friendly and hostile. After three hundred years, the planets last visited are no longer going to be the planets Starfleet last stepped foot on.

Because Starfleet does exist - if in name only - as the local law enforcement branch in the solar system. History has largely forgotten the name Enterprise - it has been decades since the last antiquated vessel to bear the name was mothballed. But scientists on Earth have discovered a new method of propulsion - one that bypasses subspace and will allow limited interstellar travel.

A new Enterprise is launched under a mission to seek out the lost planets of the Federation, attempt to rebuild the great institution. In command of the vessel is a wise old Cardassian, one of the last deep space explorers (even if deep space means the Oort Cloud) - paired with a brash young Human officer from the law enforcement ageny. A combination that brings both brains and brawn to the forging of a new legend ...

 

[Tim Walker]

I was particularly impressed by the depiction of alien intruders, in "Silent Enemy" (ENT) Scroll down.

I was also impressed by the depiction of Species 8472. (VOY) Scroll down. BTW, check out the Babylon 5 link. The Shadow image at top worked, coming across as surreal instead of simply fake.

 

[Tim Walker]

And I'd say that you could still have bipedal aliens that are more than just humanoids with bumpy foreheads.

I believe that the Gorn would qualify for this category.

 

[T'Girl]

But you would still be making a television series. Many aliens would still have to be humanoid because of budget.

Hmm, kind of a catch 22. If both humanoids with bumpy foreheads and CGI aliens look dated, what would you do?

My thought is the best way to depict an "alien" is through the actors acting abilities, and the way the character is written and directed.

Elaborate make up is unnecessary, maybe just something like a accent, or Vulcan ears, or a Bajorian nose.

 

[Tim Walker]

The Federation as a middle power. Scroll down to examine the possibilities for expansion.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

For non-humanoid aliens why not go the FarScape route and have animatronic puppets?

The number of times I've watched it and forgotten that Rygel and Pilot aren't actually actors in makeup is a testament to good writing, interesting character usage and solid voice work. They definitely had more depth and personality than the likes of Chakotay, Kim and Mayweather combined.