Let's be real, it's all about what will get ratings

[Infern0]

This is the reason why, sadly I don't feel we will be getting a continuation of the prime universe.

The failures of the last TNG movie, and Enterprise means that the men who write the cheques are highly unlikely to see a continuation of the prime universe as being profitable, and to be honest they may be right.

I do think there is a place for well written, acted sci fi, as I always point to game of thrones being one of the "coolest" shows on TV right now and it's set in fantasy almost dungeons and dragons setting.

My hope is that we will get a show near that level, but in all honesty, what they are likely to do is look at the new Trek movies, see what worked there and try and replicate it on the small screen.

I do think it's a shame, Disney are on the right track with Star Wars, going back to it's roots, not rebooting it just moving away from the prequels. and going back to what worked when it was at it's peak.

In my opinion a similar concept could work if they stuck to TNG/DS9 type of setting, continuing on from there, making sure the show is well acted and written and does enough to draw in casuals and new viewers. They would have to avoid voyager and enterprise territory (don't get me wrong i like those shows but they aren't mainstream)

But yeah, that's my thoughts on the subject, if i was put in charge of making the decisions and my priority was making as much money as I could, I do everything in my power to spin off from the popularity of the new movies, right down to a quinto cameo in the pilot. and then i'd try to appeal to the brainless masses.

 

[sojourner]

Yep. This was worthy of it's own thread. Wouldn't want it to get lost in one of the existing threads about the new show.

 

[Infern0]

Yep. This was worthy of it's own thread. Wouldn't want it to get lost in one of the existing threads about the new show.

do i detect a hint of sarcasm?

 

[T'Girl]

do i detect a hint of sarcasm?

From sojourner? Nahhhh.

Success is difficult to "just do." If there was a formula that consistently worked there'd be no flops.

The new Star Trek will have an advantage over most new starts, strong name recognition, built in fan base, a big budget movie less than a year before.

I do think (imho) that a high speed thrill ride Trek series will fail, and that should be at best a secondary component. Something more character driven, more introspective, might be the road to success.

Trek has a (usual undeserved) reputation for social commentary, a "ripped from the headlines" approach could work.

Depending on it's budget, ratings in the two and a half million area might just do it. If the lead is a middle range star, backed up with relative unknowns, if TPTB don't go overboard on the SFX.

 

[RAMA]

Well Star Wars only has 6 movies, it doesn't really have to reboot. Bad Robot did the smartest thing and preserved the prime universe while starting fresh. There really was nowhere else to go. The new encyclopedia is going to be two volumes!!!

 

[Mojochi]

Regretfully for us, refreshing Star Trek always works best when the creative people shed enough of the baggage to be able to spin out something fresh. It's what the TOS movies did with the original series. It's what TNG did with both the former. It's even what DS9 did to an extent, in relation to TNG, & it's certainly what NuTrek did.. Distance makes the heart grow fonder

 

[rahullak]

That's fortunate. A new show has to be, well, new. What worked in the 90s or early 2000s probably won't work with the audiences of 2017. Contemporary themes, designs, characters, interactions; these are what bring in the ratings and the revenue, imho.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

When the new series premieres in 2017, it will have been 12 years since anyone would have seen new adventures in the prime universe on screen. I think that alone suggests that it is done, the success of the new films aside.

 

[Tim Walker]

This is the reason why, sadly I don't feel we will be getting a continuation of the prime universe.

The failures of the last TNG movie, and Enterprise means that the men who write the cheques are highly unlikely to see a continuation of the prime universe as being profitable, and to be honest they may be right.

what they are likely to do is look at the new Trek movies, see what worked there and try and replicate it on the small screen.

I think that this analysis, unfortunately, is all too realistic.

 

[Warped9]

Listening to a podcast earlier this week left me thinking about what I thought was a valid point.

Television and film are two different mediums. Film, particularly of the summer block buster variety, is a different animal than series television. The objective of a feature film is to reach the broadest possible audience with the most impact. To that end you don't get a lot of time for character development and intricate plot and deep story. Particularly when you're dealing with visual spectacles of the popcorn type. You're working on one project every couple of years then everyone goes home until maybe the next time around.

Series television is quite different. Generally speaking the kind of nonstop action and really expensive f/x seen in block buster features aren't going to translate to a television series. It's too expensive and audiences do rather expect something at least a bit deeper from a multi-episode series.

I think there is also a certain expectation from Star Trek on television, the medium which gave it birth. At least in general folks could be expecting more drama and less action for action's sake. They're content with less spectacular f/x if engaged with more engaging stories and storytelling.

The producers are going to have to connect with viewers, old and new, in a meaningful way to keep them coming back week after week and season after season. I really don't see that happening if they were to follow the JJtrek film formula too closely.

If TPTB are smart they would aim to emulate the level of writing found on the current better dramas on television. I'm not saying that they will necessarily make the show dark or start killing off characters left and right, but they could aim for making the stories more unpredictable and truly engaging. Make the viewers care and motivated to tune in the following week find out what the hell happens next.

This doesn't really answer the question as to which continuity the show will be in, but that kind of storytelling has more in common with what has been done in the Prime continuity than the JJverse continuity.

And it's possible CBS might not be ready to totally ignore all that came before and risk annoying a good number of viewers.

Note, too, there are shows currently on television that while playing in similar sandboxes as feature films they are distinctly not of the same continuity. There's no reason Star Trek couldn't be done the same way.

 

[Tim Walker]

I think that a soft reboot could work well for television.

 

[Warped9]

I think that a soft reboot could work well for television.

TNG was in many respects a soft reboot. It didn't acknoledge TOS much, at least early on, and even contradicted some things established (or at least strongly inferred) on TOS yet oeveral remained reasonably consistent with what came before.

A new series set in the Prime continuity could take a similar approach. It doesn't have to go out of its way to cement itself to what came before, but just drop the occasional and vague reference. But mostly the show can do its own thing.

I know there are fans are really want it all to be of the same continuity. And some fans can accept the idea that not everything we saw on television absolutely has to be of the same continuity. And, of course, there are a lot of more casual viewers who really don't care.

We'll find out in the coming months, but for now I think there really is too little information available to make any sort of informed assessment of what will or won't be done.

 

[uniderth]

Yet again. Continuity doesn't have to be baggage that weighs down the story. It can be utilized to promote the creative process. It just seems like lazy writing to me to discard existing continuity. Meh I can't come up with a story that fits the existing universe...meh... I'll just make a new one. There are so many good stories waiting to be told in the Star Trek universe. There is no need for a reboot.

I know there are fans are really want it all to be of the same continuity. And some fans can accept the idea that not everything we saw on television absolutely has to be of the same continuity. And, of course, there are a lot of more casual viewers who really don't care.

What I don't get is why don't they make a show that supports the continuity and then you have all three groups onboard (I'm looking at you Enterprise). Instead by choosing a reboot you are alienating one or two of the three groups.

 

[Dukhat]

This is the reason why, sadly I don't feel we will be getting a continuation of the prime universe.

The failures of the last TNG movie, and Enterprise means that the men who write the cheques are highly unlikely to see a continuation of the prime universe as being profitable, and to be honest they may be right.

But it's not just about "profitability." It's about not having to be hamstrung with 40 years of continuity. And for all the people who say stuff like "set the new series in the 27th century so we'll have a fresh slate"...well, if you're going to do that, then what's the point of keeping it in the prime universe at all?

A reboot, with new writers, is what's going to make Star Trek new again. Ron Moore said it best (I'm paraphrasing here): "You want people to say 'All right! A new Star Trek series!' Not, 'Oh God, not another Star Trek series.'"

 

[Warped9]

A lot of people are taking the presence of Kurtzman as the smoking gun that the JJverse is definitely going to be the show's continuity. That's not necessarily the case.

The JJverse came into being by collaborative effort rather than unilateral decree. At some point everybody has to get on board. But that doesn't mean actually agreed with the direction taken.

Kurtzman is going to be the Executive Producer of the show just as Rick Berman was awhile back. Yet look what Manny Coto was doing with the fourth year of ENT even though Berman was the top cheese (even though I didn't care for ENT including the fourth season). The same with DS9 and VOY.

Kurtzman isn't necessarily going to dictate what form the show will take. So far we've heard only very broad notions of what the show will be. His job is to make sure things get done, but not necessarily the nuts-and-bolts of what it will be.

 

[ancient]

A lot of people are taking the presence of Kurtzman as the smoking gun that the JJverse is definitely going to be the show's continuity. That's not necessarily the case.

The JJverse came into being by collaborative effort rather than unilateral decree. At some point everybody has to get on board. But that doesn't mean actually agreed with the direction taken.

Kurtzman is going to be the Executive Producer of the show just as Rick Berman was awhile back. Yet look what Manny Coto was doing with the fourth year of ENT even though Berman was the top cheese (even though I didn't care for ENT including the fourth season). The same with DS9 and VOY.

Kurtzman isn't necessarily going to dictate what form the show will take. So far we've heard only very broad notions of what the show will be. His job is to make sure things get done, but not necessarily the nuts-and-bolts of what it will be.

^I agree. The reset universe was for a specific purpose: to allow the use of Kirk & Co. but restyled to be hip in today's world.

We don't know what the needs of this new show are yet. Maybe the canon will be new to allow freedom or maybe it'll be kept so they don't have to bother rebuilding from scratch.

 

[Mudd]

Almost everything's the same in oldTrek and nuTrek, as far as continuity is concerned. The huge departure is visual and in the style of characterization and storytelling. You can expect the new series to resemble the nuTrek movies and not the oldTrek shows in those respects.

 

[AviTrek]

A lot of people are taking the presence of Kurtzman as the smoking gun that the JJverse is definitely going to be the show's continuity. That's not necessarily the case.

The JJverse came into being by collaborative effort rather than unilateral decree. At some point everybody has to get on board. But that doesn't mean actually agreed with the direction taken.

Kurtzman is going to be the Executive Producer of the show just as Rick Berman was awhile back. Yet look what Manny Coto was doing with the fourth year of ENT even though Berman was the top cheese (even though I didn't care for ENT including the fourth season). The same with DS9 and VOY.

Kurtzman isn't necessarily going to dictate what form the show will take. So far we've heard only very broad notions of what the show will be. His job is to make sure things get done, but not necessarily the nuts-and-bolts of what it will be.

The universe has nothing to do with the storytelling. The same style of story can be told in any universe. Kurtzman being present may or may not imply the look of the show. But Kurtzman was hired because of his work on Fringe, Scorpion, Limitless, and the other TV shows he's successfully been an EP for.

 

[arch101]

As far as ratings go, Thank The Great Bird that this Trek won't ever have to go up against sitcoms, cop shows and wrestling, or have to worry about it's time slot or getting moved around the schedule. As a niche genre, this Trek should do VERY well on the net. 5 bucks or no.

 

[Greg Cox]

As far as ratings go, Thank The Great Bird that this Trek won't ever have to go up against sitcoms, cop shows and wrestling, or have to worry about it's time slot or getting moved around the schedule. As a niche genre, this Trek should do VERY well on the net. 5 bucks or no.

Good point. I mean, does anybody really think that the new show would last for more than one season if it aired in prime-time on CBS? How many other hit SF shows does CBS air weekly?